Christchurch, New Zealand: The talk on the eve of the opening match of the Cricket World Cup between New Zealand and Sri Lanka is of pressure, of expectation, of anticipation and excitement and nerves.
These words recur as the respective captains, Brendon McCullum of New Zealand and Angelo Mathews of Sri Lanka, face news conferences for the last time before their months of preparation and their immediate form are put to the test in the first of 49 matches in the tournament.
In some ways the words are deployed defensively, as platitudes to mask raw feelings or as attempts to distil powerful emotions individual players may be feeling as they approach one of the biggest matches and largest tournaments of their lives.
Then McCullum, briefly, lets his defense drop and shows some of the thoughts that lie behind the words — in his case an overpowering sense of mission and of confidence as he attempts to lead New Zealand to its first title.
McCullum is asked whether New Zealand has ever sent a better-prepared team to a World Cup — remembering that it has reached the semifinals on six occasions without ever reaching the final.
"No, we haven't," the Black Caps skipper replied instantly. "We never have, not the ones I've been involved with anyway.
"We believe we are a good cricket team and we believe we have a chance in this World Cup but ... there are some good teams around as well and we're going to need things to fall in our favor."
Mathews speaks of the pressure New Zealand may be under as the home team and as bearers of heavy expectation after an outstanding buildup. New Zealand was creeping towards a prominent place among the World Cup favorites, even before it beat Sri Lanka 4-2 and Pakistan 2-0 in the recent limited-overs international series that were the crux of its Cup buildup.
And then, as if to finally reaffirm the perception that this may be the World Cup when New Zealand finally achieves its potential, the Black Caps beat tournament co-favorites South Africa emphatically in their last warmup match.
"Playing at home always adds that bit more pressure," Mathews said. "But I think they're a very good team, able to handle that and they will obviously come out and play very positive cricket, so we are expecting a very good challenge from them.
"Of course, that's what we're here for. We can't wait to get on the field tomorrow, play positive cricket and try and beat the New Zealanders."
Sri Lanka, which won the 1996 title and lost the finals in 2007 and '11, is not allowing its recent series loss to New Zealand sap confidence or force selection gambles.
"It's the fighting spirit that we've got to bring into it," said Mathews, reflecting on costly ways his team had found to surrender games in New Zealand. "When you lose a few games you tend to be a bit more down and you've got to fight hard.
"It's going to be a fresh series for us, it's the start of a World Cup and we've put everything else under the carpet and we're just trying to be positive."
McCullum believes New Zealand is able to cope with the pressure, even when it is compounded by the experience of playing in the opening match of a quadrennial tournament, with a massive international TV audience expected to tune in.
"It's something we probably mitigated against a little while ago when we realized that if we were able to gain some performances in games leading into the World Cup then the expectation would rise," McCullum said. "So we were able to deal with that a while ago and put some things in place to be able to deal with that.
"Whether you go into a tournament as underdogs (or) favorites, it's all irrelevant once the games start. And it's great. It drums up energy and expectation and anticipation and following. But once the game actually starts, it's back to the contest in its purist form: it's bat and ball and someone wins and someone loses."
