Scotland just aren't quite clicking, admits Mommsen after loss to England

Preston Mommsen was speaking to the media after Scotland were defeated by England in the World Cup. You can also listen to the full press conference in the audio widget above. Q. How do you feel, first of all? PRESTON MOMMSEN: Yeah, very disappointed. Having won the toss, we’re very disappointed with the start we had with the ball. Second half of our innings I thought we did brilliantly, to restrict them to only 300 with the platform they had and the batters they had to come. So we went into the halftime break, we were pretty confident we were in with a shout there. It was a good wicket, and unfortunately with the bat we just couldn’t quite get going. I thought Kyle batted beautifully but not enough support and not a big enough platform there to have a proper shot at that chase. Q. Anything in particular you’ve learned from that with bat or ball? PRESTON MOMMSEN: Yeah, I think with the ball, especially when there’s a bit of assistance, it’s critical in any format really to make sure we’re putting the ball in the right areas, asking the right questions of the batters. We’re playing against some quality batters there, and to give them an easy start, it’s difficult to pull it back, and we saw that today. Q. And with the bat? PRESTON MOMMSEN: Yeah, with the bats, obviously some of the dismissals were slightly disappointing. I think we had a bit more time than we thought in that chase. It’s quite a quick outfield there, quite easy to get scoring I think once you get in, once a partnership gets going. We were looking for that partnership, that 100‑run partnership, and unfortunately it wasn’t there for us. Yeah, we know the significance of a platform up front, and we couldn’t quite get that today. [caption id=“attachment_2116795” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Mommsen batting against England during his team’s defeat in the World Cup. AFP[/caption] Q. What is the gap between the sides? Obviously the scoring margin there is quite large. I’m not sure it’s that big. What do you think? PRESTON MOMMSEN: No, I wouldn’t think it is that big, and as I said, I’m very disappointed. I think we’re a better side than what we showed there today. There were some things we didn’t do very well. There were some things we actually did very well. We couldn’t quite put in the full package, and that’s very disappointing, and that’s quite regrettable. But it just wasn’t meant to be today. Q. England had suffered two very heavy defeats coming into that match. Did they look at all apprehensive to you? Did they seem to be lacking in confidence? PRESTON MOMMSEN: Well, I think it showed once we got rid of Ian Bell there and Moeen Ali that they were pretty vulnerable in the middle there. We knew we could keep taking wickets and we did keep taking wickets which allowed us to restrict them to 300, and hence we took a lot of momentum going into that halftime break. From the platform they had of 170‑odd for none, to restrict them to only 300, we took a lot of confidence from that. Q. At that stage did you fear a really big score from them? PRESTON MOMMSEN: Yeah, I was trying not to think too far ahead. We knew, though, that if we did get wickets that there were guys coming in that we could hopefully try and get early, and fortunately a lot of those guys we did get out early. Q. You said last week, as well, that it just didn’t click, didn’t quite happen, and I just wonder ahead of Afghanistan if you would consider making some changes, whether that’s the batting, or are you going to stick with the tried‑and‑trusted lineup with the openers and going down six and seven? PRESTON MOMMSEN: Yeah, I think we adjusted to the team we were playing against today and the changes that we made, and Ali came and did a fantastic job with the ball. Freddie unfortunately couldn’t get going today, but I think he looked the part. We’ll have to go away and reassess, reflect, and see how we’re going to approach that Afghanistan game. Obviously that’s a critical game for us. Having played them quite a bit in recent times, it’s important that we put in a big performance there. Q. You’ve played New Zealand and now played England. Do you get a sense that the two teams are closer than the result that they got between them? Do you think that England have actually got a realistic chance of progressing in this tournament? PRESTON MOMMSEN: I think, yeah, definitely. If you look at the 11 that won the park today, there’s a lot of quality on that team. It’s obviously going to be important for a few of their boys to find form. Obviously Moeen looked fantastic today as well as what he offered with the ball. He’s a genuine all-rounder there and looks a quality player. And I think Finn, a brilliant comeback from him after the tap he took against New Zealand, so he’ll gain a lot of confidence from today, I’m sure. On the whole I think England are a quality team. There’s a lot of good individuals there, and I’m sure they will do well in the World Cup. Q. You’re not really playing a fifth bowler, are you? Is that something that’s always going to be a bit of an area of weakness in this World Cup? PRESTON MOMMSEN: Yeah, that’s something we look at as the balance of the team. That fifth bowling option today probably was a little bit expensive, took one wicket. That’s something, again, we’ll go away and reflect and decide whether or not that’s the right option for us moving forward. But with the new regulations, yeah, it is difficult finding overs, and sometimes it’s worth thinking about that fifth bowler being a specialist bowler. Q. I guess you think your batting is normally the strength of the team. In both of the first two games you’ve had some spells of having a good partnership and then you’ve lost sort of some wickets in clusters. What do you think is going on there that you’re kind of not quite fulfilling your potential to get to 200 yet? PRESTON MOMMSEN: Yeah, it has been disappointing from a batting point of view. I can’t really say exactly what’s gone on there, a couple of guys not just getting in, and unfortunately when guys are getting in, not quite going on to get the big ones, which is fundamental to getting big scores. You know, there’s lots of small things that aren’t just quite clicking, but hopefully over the next couple of days we can put in some hard graft and make sure we’re firing for Afghanistan.