Before AB de Villiers and Brendon McCullum attempt to bat
their opposition away, literally, before they have to set a field or decide on
a bowling change, even before they toss the coin, they will have to perform
another, and perhaps more important job. The two men will issue the final words
of instructions to their respective teams in the hope it will inspire them to
go where they have never been before: the final of a World Cup.
De Villiers has not yet decided what he will say but he knows
it will come to him when he gets to Eden Park and gauges the mood. "I'll
have a little look about what they're feeling when we get to the ground. At
warm-ups you normally get a good indication of where the guys are at, and then
the right words will be said in that little huddle," he said.
It will be vital for South Africa that de Villiers delivers
as promised because it was at this same ground where he felt an absence of an
"electric vibe," when South Africa played Pakistan. No matter what he
did that day, de Villiers could not spark them but he said he trusts his team
will be "up for it," and knows what to do if they aren't. "I get
a feeling of what the energy is like. It's pretty easy to pick up when you've
spent a lot of time with the guys. I know what makes them tick, and I know what
irritates them as well. Sometimes it's important to irritate them, to get the
best out of them. It's a matter of reading the situation and trusting my gut."
McCullum does not seem to have the same concern and has
already had his speech prepared for a while. "It will be no different to
every other game," he said.
It's not the one you see on the ANZ adverts - "Dream big
New Zealand," but it's close. "We talk a lot about this being the
greatest time of our lives and the trip that we've been on so far has been one
that we'll all remember. The game is meant to be fun, go out there, express
yourself, enjoy the occasion, put our best foot forward, and we'll see where
the cards fall after that," McCullum said.
After those words are spoken, both captains hope that will be
the end of the talking, although the teams' histories suggest otherwise. In
2011, at the
quarter-final, Faf du Plessis and Kyle Mills were involved in an
on-field scuffle which prompted South Africa's unraveling. That was where de
Villiers saw the usually "gentlemanlike" New Zealand "go for
what they want," and he is wary the same may happen tomorrow.
If it does, de Villiers will stay out of it and encourage his
men to do the same. "I personally don't like to get involved vocally too
much. It's all about the confidence and the body language. I think I say enough
with the way I go about my business personally as a player, and I'm expecting
the team to do the same," he said.
But McCullum has indicated things will not go that far,
because he believes both sides have matured from that day. "I think both
teams have grown up immensely in that time, and we're different teams and play
the game in different spirit, and I would expect us to go out there and focus
purely on displaying our skills, trying to be as good as what we can with ball,
bat and in the field, and leave nothing out there in terms of our heart and our
soul and trying to be as desperate as we can," he said.
"Sledging is not how we want to play the game. I think
other teams will do that sort of thing, but for us, we're not good enough to
have that as our focus. We need to make sure that we're respectful of the game
and how we go about our work." Because afterwards, McCullum would like the
two camps to get together to celebrate, commiserate and just be cricketing
colleagues.
"The way the cricket has gone now, you play so much
cricket around the world against teams and against guys and you form
relationships and obviously IPL helps with that as well. When you're out on the
field representing your country, you've got a duty to ensure that you go out and
you try to perform at your absolute best. Tomorrow is no different to that.
Whether you win or you lose we'll catch up after the game, and whoever loses
will wish the team all the best for the final, and whoever wins I'm sure will
be gracious about that."
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