George Munsey Exclusive Interview CREX Virat Kohli AB de Villiers. Image Credits: AFP
To the delight of cricket fans across the globe, the inaugural ETPL season is set to kick off on August 26. Glasgow Cosmic is undoubtedly one of the teams to watch out for this season, with some of the biggest match-winners in T20 cricket set to represent the franchise.
Legendary Scotland cricketer George Munsey has been appointed as the captain of Glasgow Cosmic. Ahead of the Cosmic's first match against Edinburgh Castle Rockers, CREX had an opportunity to interact with the talismanic opener and explore the key details about his preparations.
George Munsey also opened up about his cricketing idol. He shared his thoughts on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, while also reflecting on his IPL aspirations and the captaincy styles of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
The engaging interaction concluded with an exciting 'This or That' round, where Munsey chose his picks from the given options based on the players' impact in T20 cricket. Here are all the snippets from the interview that CREX conducted in association with Glasgow Cosmic ahead of the ETPL 2026.
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Q. 1: Congratulations on being appointed as the captain of Glasgow Cosmic, and thank you for giving your first interview to CREX after the appointment. You will play the first game against the star-studded Edinburgh Castle Rockers; so how are the preparations going?
Answer- Firstly, thank you. Obviously, a very exciting time in European cricket and for myself to lead the team is a big honour. We've got a lot of talent in the dressing room and a lot of experience, so plenty to lean on. And look, we're all starting to arrive in Amsterdam here and meet up in The Hague. It's an exciting time and we're looking forward to it.
Q. 2: You had a fantastic T20 Blast campaign where you scored 500 runs at a blistering strike rate. How is that form and confidence going to help you at the ETPL?
Answer- Yeah, I had a lot of fun down in England with Nottinghamshire. It was a great competition to be a part of, happy to perform. I really enjoyed my cricket there. So, I think that's my big takeaway is trying to take that into this and create an environment that's a lot of fun and allow players to flourish, I guess. That's the key for me. And I think if we can achieve that, we're going to have some pretty special performances and compete for the win.
Q. 3: There was an update issued on Finn Allen that he would not be available for this season. How big a setback is this for you as a captain and for the team?
Answer- Yeah, look, it's always an interesting one when a player is not available. I think it changes your dynamic a little bit. But we've drafted in Jason Roy, who is an elite cricketer himself. So I think we've done pretty well with replacing Finn Allen. But I think that's just part of the journey as a franchise team, is the ebbs and flows of team dynamics, team personnel.
There's always going to be injuries and replacements. And look, I'm very comfortable with the squad we have here now. And we're still to name a few more players to make up our squad of 17. But it's pretty exciting.
And I'm very happy and comfortable with the players that we've got. I look forward to playing again with Jason. I think he's been an exceptional player for a long, long time. And he's a great person as well. And I think that's going to be a massive addition to our team, is his personality. And I look forward to getting stuck in with him.
Q. 4: We just talked about opening batting. And opening the batting is never an easy task, especially against the white new ball, which moves a lot. So who was your inspiration growing up who made you dream to start your career as an opener?
Answer- Yeah, I had a few. I thought Marcus Trescothick, early days of my memories, it was there. Big lefty. I'm not just saying it because he's here. But Haydos (Matthew Hayden), our coach, was another massive mentor for me growing up, just the way he played the game.
(Adam) Gilchrist, another lefty that just came out and was superb and put on a massive show. And I think that era, we were very lucky with the lefties that we had to watch as youngsters and to inspire us to be the cricketers that we are today.
So there's quite a few. And I certainly still look back at the videos of Trescothick scoring all those runs at the Ashes, for example, to inspire me to do more.
Q. 5: What are your thoughts on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the young opener from India, who has created a massive buzz with his stroke play? And why is he so special? Why do you think that he is a massive threat to the opposition?
Answer- Well, look, I think the world of cricket has moved so much that you can just burst onto the scene now. There's so much scrutiny. There's so much media attention. And I think it's amazing to see the success in such a short time.
Someone like him, there's a few others flying around. But I think his ability to attack from ball one, his ability to hit hard lengths for six, I think is pretty special. And obviously, his age is a big contender as well.
It's frightening to think how young he is and how old I am in comparison and what he's achieving at this young age. So he's a special talent and one that's going to be an exciting watch for the next couple of decades, really, at the age that he's at.
Q. 6: As a senior batter, what advice would you like to give to India's youngster, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi?
Answer- Well, I think I would like to get some advice off him, if I'm honest. His ability to stay relaxed but yet confident to go out there and play his shots is something that he needs to hold onto and to try and block out as much noise as possible and just be himself.
I think as you grow older, and some would say wiser, but I think as experiences come your way, it's sort of blocking out the noise becomes easier and it's always a challenge growing up when you've got so many different mentors and coaches trying to help you develop.
It's how can you use all the good advice and make it part of your game and block out all the bad noise, as we call it.
Q. 7: As an opener, you have faced Shaheen Afridi as well as Jasprit Bumrah, two fearsome fast bowlers of the current generation. Which of these two bowlers challenged you more as an opening batter?
Answer- It's always an interesting question. I think, to be honest, as an opening batter when the ball is swinging, most bowlers are quite tough to face. I think it doesn't matter whether it's an Indian superstar or a Pakistani superstar, they're very different.
One's a big left armer, one's got a unique action run-up. They're both very challenging. You've got to be able to set up your game accordingly to the bowler that's coming through.
I think it would be hard to beat Bumrah in all facets of the game. I think he's probably the best bowler in the world. If you had to pick a multi-format player to take with you to all your teams, I think he's probably the best in the world.
Q. 8: We just talked about Vairav Sooryavanshi. It was the IPL that gave him the platform to express himself. What is your favourite IPL team and is there any particular team that you would like to represent if given a chance?
Answer- Yeah, I guess that's a great question. I feel like as an outsider that's not played at the IPL, I don't really have a favourite. I tend to follow people more than teams. It's hard to look past RCB with the amount of talent that they get overseas and domestically.
I really enjoy watching the IPL and it's quite nice not having a favourite team. I think as a player, your realistic goals are always to make the IPL and you'll play for any team and try and get any experience to go out there and try and dominate where you can. So, I don't really have a favourite.
I just know what is done for the game. I really hope that this European league can do something similar in the sense of growing domestic talent, giving them a platform to shine and to experience world cricket, go around the world playing leagues, playing world cups, playing for their countries and just becoming better cricketers.
Q. 9: How big a platform is the ETPL for players who are auditioning for the IPL? Because the IPL auction is also coming up later this year.
Answer- I think any opportunity is a good opportunity, especially with the broadcast reach that hopefully this tournament can generate. Maybe not this year, but in the years to come. I think there's a lot of interest to see where this league goes. There's a lot of backing. There's a lot of very good owners. It's going to be very interesting to see how people take to this league.
There's been a massive support system already with fans getting behind it and everything seems to be going in a great direction. Glasgow Cosmic, for example, have been excellent with what they've achieved so far in such a short space of time.
It's going to be a really big platform for a lot of players. It's going to hopefully take European cricket to the next level. I think that's my most exciting part about this competition kicking off and getting going is growing European cricket and where that can take some really strong associate nations. Where can we take them in the five years to come? And that for me is the most pleasing thing about this comp getting off the ground.
Q. 10: You are the captain of Glasgow Cosmic and whenever it comes to captaincy in India, we talk about MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Rohit and Dhoni led India to multiple ICC titles, whereas Virat Kohli transformed the Test side into a formidable force. So, which one quality would you like to pick from each of these Indian stalwarts?
Answer- To be honest, I think they've all benefited from each other. I think they've all been successful in their own right and they've all developed their own style of captaincy whilst keeping their core principles the same.
I think Virat's ruthlessness to be the leader, to be the role model is second to none. He wants to be the person that goes out there and wins the game and kind of shows and drags the team along.
Sharma's calmness and Dhoni's genius in everything he does. I think you've got three exceptional leaders there. So, I think for me, captaincy is about just giving clarity and allowing people to express themselves, being nice and relaxed and having a lot of fun.
If you can achieve those things, the performances will take care of themselves. We've been very lucky to have some very good captains in Scotland in the past.
Richie's (Berrington) served for a long time, Kyle Coetzer was exceptional. So, I've been very fortunate to work under them for a long time and hopefully can pick up their best bits and bring it into my sort of captaincy style and that's something I'm excited to do.
I think we've got very good coaching staff here, which makes my life a lot easier and we've also got a lot of experience in the dressing room. So, it's going to be an exciting trip for us.
Q. 11: I would also like to congratulate you on the fact that Scotland have qualified for the World Cup qualifier and you have been absolutely phenomenal in the Cricket World Cup League 2. So, will we see an in-form George Munsey carrying Scotland to the main event next year?
Answer- Absolutely. That's our biggest priority as a nation and something that not just myself, the rest of the team are really looking forward to that challenge, coming across the best teams, some really good services and to put our best foot forward to try and qualify for another qualifier.
'This Or That' Feat. George Munsey
- Jos Buttler vs Travis Head? Answer- Buttler
- Jos Buttler vs David Warner? Answer- Buttler
- Jos Buttler vs AB de Villiers? Answer- AB de Villiers, 100%.
- AB de Villiers vs Rohit Sharma? Answer- AB de Villiers
- AB de Villiers vs Virat Kohli? Answer- That's a big one. That is a great one. I will stick with AB.
- AB de Villiers vs MS Dhoni? Answer- MS Dhoni
- MS Dhoni vs Vaibhav Suryavanshi? Answer- MS Dhoni
- MS Dhoni vs Chris Gayle? Answer- Chris Gayle
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