Colin Croft talks to West Indies fast bowler Merve Dillon who has been selected in the final 13 for the First Test against South Africa starting on Saturday.

Colin Croft (CC): Well, Merve Dillon, it has been a really nice comeback. Your name has just been included in the West Indies 13 for the First Test Match. Firstly, your reaction.

Merve Dillon (MD): What can I say? I am always happy when I am included in the West Indies cricket team. I have had the surgery (for a foot/ankle injury), and I have been training for a couple of weeks now and the foot feels really good. I have not been having any problems and I guess that this game (Busta Cup XI v South Africa) was to see if I was fully ready to get back into Test cricket - a fitness test, I think. I have bowled well in this game and with a bit more luck, things could have gone a bit different, wicket-wise. I really do feel very good, though, and I am very happy to be back and selected.

CC: Yes, in this game against South Africa as a part of the Busta Cup XI, you did bowl very well in the first innings and everyone was impressed, but were you a little bit tentative, a bit scared maybe? After all, you had not played any cricket at all after playing in the first four Tests in Australia, even though you did play with the injury in the Second, Third and Fourth Tests, after being injured in the First Test at Brisbane.

MD: It was a bit scary at first. As you would know, you want to go out there and give it a 100%, but I was not sure how the foot would react, so of course I was a bit tentative. As you said, I had not bowled since Australia. However, as the first day went on, I did not get any trouble with it, and I felt more and more comfortable with the foot and myself as the first day wore on.

CC: How confident of your cricket are you now? I think that in times past, perhaps you were not quite sure of your place in the team. Maybe you have settled down a bit more these days. You are a bit older, a newly married man and a new father too, so, how confident are you now?

MD: There is definitely a plus there now, with a new family. I feel much more relaxed, and that brings real confidence too. It is now up to me. I see myself doing well at this level. It is certainly up to me now to go out there and try to perform well every time I play. I know that I will not always be pleased with my performances, and sometimes I may not seem to be at my best, but I back myself when I go out to play, and hopefully, I will be doing very positive stuff on the field.

CC: So, four fast bowlers have been selected in Reon King, Courtney Walsh, Nixon McLean and yourself. Do you guys normally see yourselves as competitors for positions, or do you just do your thing and hope that the selectors do their thing properly, in your favour, too?

MD: Well. I simply do my thing. You know, if I do get in, then I will go out and do my best to show my best stuff. I think the decisions are always up to them, but I will always have to try and impress them too, whether it is in the net practice or in the games. I simply have to go out there, work as hard as I can every time, and hope that I get into the team.

CC: There has been a tremendous change from the team that last played a Test Match in Australia. The new captain obviously is Carl Hooper, while Chris Gayle comes back; he did not tour Australia at all; Wavell Hinds is there and so too is Brian Lara. Shiv Chanderpaul comes back, like you, from injury. Ramnaresh Sarwan and then the rest of the guys, except Dininath Ramnarine and Reon King, who are also coming back from an injury, but have been bowling well. That is a young team, except for perhaps Courtney Walsh, Lara and Hooper?

MD: One of the things that could have impressed the selectors and may have helped with the selection of this team may have been the way young Marlon Samuels came into the team as one of the youngest players ever to play for the West Indies and he did really well. So, it shows that the younger guys can come in and perform at Test level. Like you said, it is a young team, but I think, no, I know that the talent is there and the guys are just so keen to go out there and show their stuff.

CC: This might be a tricky question. While it is a young team, and perhaps not too experienced overall, especially playing together, the West Indian people and supporters will still expect a lot from you guys immediately. I think that could be a little bit unfair. Don't you?

MD: That is the touchy situation. We have not been doing too well at the Test level, especially on tours, and the people are used to seeing the West Indies going out there and winning regularly. We have not been doing that. Especially on tours, we have not been winning a lot. I suppose that if you are supporting a team, then you expect them to win. You cannot really blame the supporters for that. It is now up to us to go out there and perform as they know we should do and we know that we can do.

CC: You too are getting up there with experience, perhaps eventually to match the experiences of Lara, Chanderpaul, Walsh, Hooper and even Jacobs, guys with so much experience. You have been on a couple of tours. How do you see the younger guys gelling, learning from these veterans as time passes, but then, the learning has to be quick too?

MD: Yes, there are a few guys with great experiences there, bowling and batting, and you know, they can be, and have been, of tremendous help to us, but we also have to want to learn from these experienced guys too. I think that once we work together, then we will pick up (the slack), learn some more, and try and carry on the tradition from where they left off.

CC: Final question then. Any specific aspirations, specific plans, and goals that you want to set for yourself for this South African tour and perhaps even the year 2001?

MD: Yes. My goal for the tour, and afterwards too, is to be as consistent as I can be. Overall, our players have been lacking in that consistency. I just want to go out there and do well regularly and consistently, bowl as fast and as well as I can as many times as I can. With luck, I may get some positive results.

CC: Merve Dillon, thank you very much.

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