IN2INDOOR.com.au Interviews Ross Gregory

Ross Gregory will be going to his sixth and possibly last World Cup as coach of the Australian Extreme Men’s team and he will be hoping that he can maintain his perfect record and lead the team to another World Cup win.

Ross has been involved in Indoor Cricket for over 30 years, he first played for Victoria in 1982 and won 2 national championships in his playing days, he captained the side from 1984 to 1988. In 1989 Ross stepped into a coaching role with the Victorian juniors and then coached the Victorian Men’s team in 1993. Ross was the natural candidate for the top job in Australian Indoor Cricket when he took charge of the Australian Men’s team in 2001 and he has enjoyed an incredibly successful tenure at the helm.

Ross and the team have been in New Zealand since Monday the 20^th and they have been putting the final touches on their World cup preparations. Ross was kind enough to break away from the busy tournament preparations to catch up with IN2INDOOR.COM.AU

What are some of the challenges you face when preparing for a major tournament and how do you overcome them?

Distance is the biggest challenge, the players could be anywhere from Perth to Townsville to Melbourne. As a coach I have to rely on the players to keep their own skills sharp and playing in their local super league. We catch up on the phone occasionally and all the players have a set of drills that they need to be working on.

Do you hold training camps where you can get the whole squad together?

In the past we have had training camps, but unfortunately we didn’t get any in before this World Cup. We are working hard now to ensure we are ready.

How are the preparations going?

Normally we would train during the day and then play practice games at night, but we have been limited to doing a 3 hour session each day. We will be playing a practice game against the Under 20 Men’s side this afternoon and one more before Sunday, but ideally I would have liked a bit more training time and more practice games. 

Given the limited preparation do you feel the team will be ready come Sunday?

At this point in time I think we are a little undercooked, but we have a few days and 2 practice games to work on that. By Sunday we will be good, I hope to be better by next Saturday and that is when it really counts

Do you prepare differently for different opposition? 

We try and find out the strengths and weaknesses of our opposition and we pick a side that can best counter those strengths and take advantage of the weaknesses. We have someone that watching the games and we keep an eye on stats, but because we get to play each team twice we have an opportunity to adjust to exploit the weaknesses in the later games.

Who do you think will be your toughest opponent at the WC?

It’s always the home team, they have the crowd behind them and they seem to be able to lift their game, New Zealand will be the toughest, but South Africa will be tough too.

Who is the most talented player you have ever played with or coached? Why?

That is an impossible question to answer, I have been lucky to play with and coach some of the best players in the world, there are too many and it would be far too hard to pick the most talented player. One of my favourite players to work with was Jay Otto, he was very good in all 3 aspects of the game and he was a great team player.

As a coach you have any pregame rituals or superstitions?

No not as a coach, I had a couple as a player but those days are behind me.

Which sportsman would you most like to meet and why?

I would like to meet Steve Waugh again, his last innings at the SCG was fantastic, a really ballsy innings, a great way to finish. And I’d like to rub his nose in the fact that we beat him and his brother at the 1984 Indoor Cricket National Championships.

IN2INDOOR.com.au wish Ross and the team all best for the World Cup. You can follow all of the results and stats on our dedicated World Cup page

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