"Who cares if you do your back even worse" - Adam Zampa on Marcus Stoinis' motivational words during AUS vs SL 2023 World Cup clash
Australia's leg-spinner Adam Zampa recalled how well all-rounder Marcus Stoinis motivated him to bowl a match-winning spell against Sri Lanka in the 2023 World Cup. The 31-year-old underlined that Stoinis urged him to give it all, even if it meant putting their bodies on the line.
Zampa had reportedly battled severe back spasms on his way to a terrific bowling spell against Sri Lanka in Lucknow. The leggie took 4 wickets as Australia bowled the Island nation out for 209 to register their first victory of the tournament.
Speaking to The Grade Cricketer Podcast, Zampa narrated that Stoinis told him that Australia were already in a tough spot and things would only get more difficult if he didn't step up.
"Stoin’ was the best. He came up to me and could see I was in pain, and I think he had a bit of a niggle and he was like ‘mate, let’s just have a crack hey, let’s just have a f---ing go. Who cares if you do your back even worse and I do my hamstring, rip it off the bone, we’re going to go home f---ing losers anyway if we don’t have a crack, so let’s go’. That was probably my turning point, I was like, ‘yeah let’s just have a crack, let’s go."
While Zampa is currently the joint-highest wicket-taker of the edition with 16 scalps, the leggie struggled in the first two matches. His lack of wickets in the first couple of games became a massive talking point as Australia lost heavily to India and South Africa.
"There wasn’t really panic stations or anger" - Adam Zampa
The New South Wales cricketer stated that they motivated themselves to stay in the contest as things could turn around if they managed to win small moments. He added:
"We just told ourselves to stay in the competition because we knew we were in a compromising position if this game gets away from us, then, 3-0 with six games left is not great. So we just stayed in it, and we know with a team like Sri Lanka if you get on top of them, the game can change really easily. So there wasn’t really panic stations or anger, it was just ‘we need to try and stay in the contest.'
Australia chased down 210 with 5 wickets to spare as Josh Inglis top-scored with 58.