John Ward (JW): Al, it must feel good to get the runs
flowing in Test cricket again, but I suppose there must be
the disappointment of missing a century today [he scored
88]
John Ward13-Sep-2000John Ward (JW): Al, it must feel good to get the runs
flowing in Test cricket again, but I suppose there must be
the disappointment of missing a century today [he scored
88].Alistair Campbell (AC): Yes, definitely. That was my
goal and I just wanted to grind it out. I’ve been guilty in
the past of getting pretty thirties and forties, so I just
wanted to grind it out out there, no matter how long it took
to reach the milestone. It didn’t happen, but the way I was
batting at the end of the England tour, in the one-dayers
there, and the way that I’m batting now, I’m sure it will
come. I’m confident mentally, and I’m batting well enough
to do that, and I have a decent method worked out now, so
hopefully if I can keep on plodding along the same road I’ll
be able to achieve it in the not-too-distant future.JW: How did you get out of your run of poor form?AC: People say I was in a rut of poor form, but to be
honest I scored a lot of runs in first-class cricket – I
think I scored three hundreds in the four first-class games
we did play last season – and it was just in the Test
matches that I really struggled. I don’t want to make
excuses, but some of the times I got some good balls, and I
think for moments when I went in I lost the way I wanted to
play, I lost the method I wanted to adopt, and as you know
you just make one mistake and that’s the end. I’m a lot
calmer at the crease now; I think one of the criticisms
levelled at me is that I don’t seem as composed as I should
be when I go in. So I’ve tried to work on that, and when I
get a start I try and convert it. If you look back on my
Test career I’ve made a lot of starts, a lot of twenties and
thirties, and that’s probably why I only average 24 because
that’s what I get all the time. So now I want to convert
them into big scores.JW: Yes, you looked a lot better today than I’ve
seen you for a long time. In what sort of frame of mind did
you approach this Test match?AC: Regardless of what I had done in England, when I
was batting really well, there were murmurs of my Test place
being in jeopardy, so I was under pressure to score some
runs. I’ll just set my stall out for the next couple of
years; I’m not captain any more, so there’s no
responsibility on my shoulders as the leader of a team. My
job is to score runs, and with Murray Goodwin and Neil
Johnson gone there’s a lot of pressure on our shoulders –
myself, Andy Flower, Grant Flower – to do a lot of runscoring for us to compete. So my frame of mind for this
game was just to give myself a chance, and if I did make a
start to convert it. I wanted to play with a lot of
patience, something I haven’t displayed in the past, so I
set out to bat time, grind it out. So I did that, and it
was a bit unfortunate to fall 12 short.JW: How did you see the match situation when you
went in to bat yesterday?AC: It was a good batting wicket, and the guys had
made starts but got out. We knew 350 was the minimum score
we needed to get on that wicket, so I didn’t worry about
what was going on the other end; I needed to keep my end
intact. Andy [Flower] came out and I thought he was good for
plenty, but when he got out, then Wishy [Craig Wishart] got
out, Streaky and I put on a partnership. It’s all about
building partnerships. I just tried to look after my end so
that people could bat around me.JW: How is the pitch playing?AC: It’s playing well, but it’s taking turn, as you
saw with Wiseman and Vettori, and as you saw with Paul
Strang this evening. He really bowled a very testing spell,
so if he can bowl a long spell tomorrow and get balls in the
right area, they don’t seem to be picking his wrong ‘un very
well, and there’s a bit of bounce there – who knows? But it
is still a really good batting wicket and we’re going to
have to work hard to bowl them out. But if the luck goes
our way and we managed to bowl them out for around 250, 270,
and get a lead, we have a chance to bat and put some
pressure on them on the last day.JW: With an overall scoring rate of around two an
over, is that just the way the tea played, or is the ball
not coming on to the bat?AC: No, it’s a nice batting wicket, but it’s our
first Test match of the season and people forget that. I’ve
just played one warm-up game but some of the guys haven’t
even had that; it’s just been nets. So the object of the
exercise in the first Test match of the season is to make
sure you get time in the middle. So it was a case on the
first day of just trying to bat out the day, no matter how
long it took, and as the season progresses, as batters work
out their games and become more confident, get more practice
under their belts, then the shots will come and a better
scoring rate will be achieved.JW: What sort of tactics did New Zealand use against
you when you batted?AC: They bowled a lot of spin at me, but basically
they just tried to bowl to defensive fields and wait for me
to make a mistake – as I have obliged on many occasions in
my career! I just said that if they were going to bowl the
ball in the right area, which they did do, and I’ve got no
opportunity to score without taking risks, then so be it –
I’m just going to defend until they give me a ball I can get
away in the gap. That’s how I set out my stall. If they
have to bowl on a flat wicket they tend to do that, just
bowl in the channel and with a ring field. They did that
and their bowlers didn’t bowl many bad balls, so that’s why
our scoring was so slow. In the past I think we would have
been 220 all out by trying to force the pace and play shots
that weren’t really there. But I think we’ve taught
ourselves a valuable lesson, that if we can bat for some
time, no matter how long it takes, and get a score on the
board, we get the opportunity to put the other side under
pressure.JW: We did wonder in the press box if a little more
effort might have been made by the team as a whole to keep
the strike rotating, pushing for singles.AC: Like I say, that comes as we get into the season,
when we get more time in the middle, we get better and
better and the scoring rate will improve. But for now this
is our first Test match of the season, and the object was to
try and get a good first-innings total, no matter how long
it took, and for every batter to get in there and get some
time in the middle. I think it will improve from here.JW: Can you evaluate the New Zealand bowlers in this
innings?AC: It’s a pretty flat wicket, and as you know I do
take on the short balls so they did have a man back there,
the seamers did try to bowl a few short. Otherwise they
just tried to bowl channel to me. The spinners just tried
to get the ball in the right area and make me play. It was
turning a little bit, and they had two guys close catching.
There was no special tactic as far as I was concerned, but
they probably had a team meeting and said that I’m prone to
giving it away, and if you get balls in the right area he’s
going to take you on, and that’s how we’re going to get him
out. I managed to be patient and grind it out.JW: Was there any particular point in your innings
where you felt, “I know I’m I control and can really go on
and make a big one this time”?AC: I did. From yesterday evening when I was
batting with Andrew [Flower] I felt really good, and in the
first session this morning I felt really in control. After
lunch I just thought that if I keep playing the same way,
just keep batting, it’s going to arrive. I wasn’t really
looking at the scoreboard, I was just concentrating on
playing ball by ball, and he runs would come. They bowled
me some balls I could put away, and if they bowled halfdecent balls in the channel I’m just going to defend. I was
aiming at being 150 not out overnight.JW: Is there any particular method you used mentally
to help to concentrate so well this time?AC: I think everyone has their little
idiosyncrasies, but all I do is say to myself, “Watch the
ball, watch the ball.” It seems to be the simplest thing to
do: you’ve got to watch the ball if you’re going to hit the
ball, so before the bowler runs in some people touch their
thigh pad or do something with their pad or touch the
helmet. But all I do, as the guy’s running up to bowl, is
say, “Watch the ball, watch the ball.”JW: What happened with the delivery that got you
out?AC: It was slower ball [from Nathan Astle] and I
just picked the wrong line, to be honest. I was maybe
getting a little tired, not as focused as I should have
been, but I just feel I fell over a bit and picked the wrong
line, which was unfortunate.JW: It must be the longest innings you’ve ever
played in international cricket.AC: Yes, probably in Test cricket it is my longest,
batting for near on five hours. But if you’re going to
score hundreds you have to learn to bat for five to seven
hours, and sometimes longer if you want to score doublehundreds. Every batter knows that if you’re going to score a
Test hundred you have to put aside five hours. I should
have done a lot more of those in my career, but now I’ve
adopted a method and I’ve seen that it does work, and
hopefully I can carry that on in the rest of the Test
matches this season and beyond.JW: Any particularly memorable strokes in this
innings that gave you real satisfaction?AC: Well, not really; it was just one of those gutsy
little ‘get in there, get behind the line of the ball and
not give anything away’. It wasn’t pretty, but I played a
couple of good cover drives off O’Connor, I think, and a
couple off Vettori, but nothing memorable. I just tried to
pick the gaps when I could, not try to hit the ball too
hard. I think that’s what Test innings are all about. Andy
Flower has shown it time and again, that if you’re going to
score big hundreds you have to be prepared to not look that
pretty, get in there, guts it out and be prepared to bat for
long periods of time, which is something I’m trying to do.JW: In retrospect, do you think there’s anything you
might have done in that innings?AC: Yes, I might have been a bit more positive
against the spinners. I’m a natural attacking player and
there were balls there that I might have run down the wicket
and hit over the top, to change the field a bit; maybe
played a few pick-up sweeps, which is one of my shots, but
like I said I had the frame of mind just to defend, that if
I batted enough time I had enough shots in my armoury,
enough experience to get to a hundred. But in retrospect
maybe I should have, so the guy’s not just bowling at you,
but you give him something to think about. As soon as you
do that and you hit a guy over the top, if he sees you
looking to come down he drops a few short and you get a few
more scoring opportunities. So perhaps in retrospect I
should have been a bit more aggressive against the spinners.
But having said that, if I’d been talking to you now with
140 not out, then I would have said I’d have changed
nothing, so just because I came 12 short I’m looking to find
somewhere I could have scored!JW: After you were out, we had quite a few runs from
the tail.AC: Yes, we did. Bryan Strang has chipped in for us
before; he’s got a Test fifty. Streak’s a really good allrounder and he got a fifty today, and ‘Psych’ Nkala was
really good as well. He rode his luck but played his shots
and was really positive. Psych’s going to be our future
all-rounder who’s going to fill Streaky’s boots, and he’s
very capable of doing that. He bowled a good first spell as
well with the ball. It’s very important if you get to 270
or 280 for seven that the tail wags and you can get another
70 or 80 out of them, as happened today. And it might make
a difference in this Test match, you never know.JW: What comments do you have on the New Zealand
innings so far?AC: It’s a good batting wicket so naturally they’re
going to come out and play their shots. That can work for
you one day and not work the other day, and I think they’re
going to have their work cut out with Paul Strang bowling.
He really showed it this evening, and it’s going to be an
intriguing day’s play tomorrow. Obviously you’re going to
get some partnerships if they get stuck in; they’ve got some
very good players so we’re going to have to be on the ball,
the seamers are going to have to be on a length, in the
channel, and Strang might be the one to apply some pressure
and nip them out.
