Morton: My Troubles Are Behind Me
West Indies batsman Runako Morton, shortly after a commanding innings against Australia, reemphasized that he has put his troubled history firmly behind him.
"I have put all of my troubles in the past behind me, everyone makes mistakes, it's if you can learn from your mistakes and avoid making mistakes over and over again,? the 28 year old right hander said after an undefeated knock of 90 against world champion Australia.
"If you're making mistakes over and over again that means you are not learning and you don't want to change," Morton said.
"I have a beautiful wife and daughter back at home and I have so much to live for and to give thanks for, I give thanks to my family for their support all the way through," said Morton, who won the man-of-the-match award for his 103-ball innings.
Morton's innings, along with his captain Brian Lara's 71, was the backbone of the West Indies 234 total which the Australians fell 10 runs short of after some restrictive bowling by the Windies bowlers and a hat trick from pacer Jerome Taylor.
Morton has had a series of disciplinary trouble with authorities over the years. He received professional help for anger-management.
Following are some excerpts from Morton?s media interview.
On his innings:
My last performance against Australia [in the DLF Cup in Malaysia where he established a record for the most balls faced without scoring] is something that I want to forget and I really wanted to go out there and get some runs on the board and put the team in a good position for the bowlers to work with.
On the partnership with Brian Lara:
It was a pleasure batting with the skipper. You can't ask for better when you are batting with the best batsman in the world.
On how the Windies are feeling after felling the mighty Australia:
We are looking forward to win this tournament again as we are the defending champions and what a way to start.
On how the team is working towards the World Cup in 2007:
All of us are looking forward to playing the World Cup in our country and by the start we have had today hopefully we will move from strength to strength and go on and win this tournament and go into the World Cup on a high.
On how he is working to establish himself in the Windies squad:
Once you could establish yourself both at the Test level and One Day level and contribute in a positive way to the team anyone would feel good about that.
On how the coaching staff has assisted in his development:
The coaching staff has never given up hope in us, they are always working hard and everything takes time to develop into something good so hopefully today is our stepping stone for us and the coaching staff as well.