You said experience detaches you from anxiety. What kind of experience helps?
Just failing. Cricket is a game of failure. You look at batsmen - they are going to fail 66% of the time even if they're one of the best in the world. If you fail that many times, you learn to be a resilient person. There's nothing quite like failing on a world stage with high-definition cameras in your face. You have to be quite resilient and put things in perspective. Without perspective, resilience and a consistent mindset, it makes it a very difficult game.
Just failing. Cricket is a game of failure. You look at batsmen - they are going to fail 66% of the time even if they're one of the best in the world. If you fail that many times, you learn to be a resilient person. There's nothing quite like failing on a world stage with high-definition cameras in your face. You have to be quite resilient and put things in perspective. Without perspective, resilience and a consistent mindset, it makes it a very difficult game.
I think family, friends, and certainly team-mates - those support structures are important. Cricket becomes a tough game when you play as an individual and only care about yourself. That's something Brendon and the senior players really did instil - the character that we had in our team. It is one of the most important things to be a team player and do everything you can to get the team over the line.
It's the last ball. Dale Steyn's running in. What are you thinking?
Well, a couple of thoughts went through my head. One was: if I hit this for six, I'm not gonna make my sister's wedding. She had booked her wedding date on the World Cup final. She'd asked me before the World Cup, "I have this date, what do you think of it?" And I said, "Well, I've been told I'm a replacement player for the World Cup only in case of injury. And also, New Zealand have never played a World Cup final, so the odds are probably stacked in your favour." That went through my mind.
Well, a couple of thoughts went through my head. One was: if I hit this for six, I'm not gonna make my sister's wedding. She had booked her wedding date on the World Cup final. She'd asked me before the World Cup, "I have this date, what do you think of it?" And I said, "Well, I've been told I'm a replacement player for the World Cup only in case of injury. And also, New Zealand have never played a World Cup final, so the odds are probably stacked in your favour." That went through my mind.
The other thing that went through my mind: I never had good press throughout my career and I didn't want to be the person that was stuck at the end being not out and not having won the game without trying. That was the first time in the innings I felt the old fear and the anxiety that overwhelms you as a player. But I guess the ability to be able to take that out of your mindset and just look at it as a great opportunity was down to experience and a long career of probably failing a lot and learning.
Were there any specific areas that you were looking at to hit the ball?
Dale had mid-off and mid-on up, so I knew it was either short or back of a length or the yorker. I just thought, we've got two balls to do it and if I hit it for four, we go through because we were top of the table, and if I hit it for six, we win. I was the guy at 70-odd not out, so the responsibility was with me to try and finish the game
Dale had mid-off and mid-on up, so I knew it was either short or back of a length or the yorker. I just thought, we've got two balls to do it and if I hit it for four, we go through because we were top of the table, and if I hit it for six, we win. I was the guy at 70-odd not out, so the responsibility was with me to try and finish the game
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Did you know that it had gone for six when it left your bat?
Didn't, really. It hit a little bit high up on the bat. But as I hit it and as it got up above the lights, I could see that it was going [for a six]. The elation - throwing my arms up in the air - was probably more relief than victory. Being in a pressure situation like that and coming out the end of it was a huge relief. You can feel a little bit burdened with that opportunity of winning the game because there's so much pressure and you don't want to let anyone down. I was always someone who never wanted to let my team-mates down, and played for my team-mates and my country. To do that and see the faces of the crowd and your team-mates and the happiness that it brought to everyone was a very special moment.
Didn't, really. It hit a little bit high up on the bat. But as I hit it and as it got up above the lights, I could see that it was going [for a six]. The elation - throwing my arms up in the air - was probably more relief than victory. Being in a pressure situation like that and coming out the end of it was a huge relief. You can feel a little bit burdened with that opportunity of winning the game because there's so much pressure and you don't want to let anyone down. I was always someone who never wanted to let my team-mates down, and played for my team-mates and my country. To do that and see the faces of the crowd and your team-mates and the happiness that it brought to everyone was a very special moment.
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Tell us about the Elliot-Steyn embrace.
I can't really remember what I said to him. Would have been along the lines of "Hard luck, well played." I'd lived in South Africa, so I'd gone through the heartache of World Cups. I'd lived through all that before I emigrated to New Zealand. I knew that they were hurting.
I can't really remember what I said to him. Would have been along the lines of "Hard luck, well played." I'd lived in South Africa, so I'd gone through the heartache of World Cups. I'd lived through all that before I emigrated to New Zealand. I knew that they were hurting.
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