Bangalore: The West Indies, which has been on the look out for budding young fast bowlers to fill the void created by its immediate past speedsters - Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose, has at least some consolation in noticing Dillon's talent. Dillon though he has a long way to go to follow in the footsteps of the highly acclaimed past fast bowlers of West Indies.
The dream of every bowler playing Test cricket is first to reach the target of 100 wickets as his personal milestone and Mervyn Dillon became the 16th West Indian to accomplish this feat when he dismissed Lou Vincent on the opening day (21.06.2002) of the first Test against New Zealand at Bridgetown. Fellow West Indian Courtney Walsh leads the all time world record of 519 Test wickets in 132 matches. The other West Indians to capture 100 or more wickets in Tests are C E L Ambrose, M D Marshall, L R Gibbs, J Garner, M A Holding, G S Sobers, A M E Roberts, W W Hall, I R Bishop, S Ramadhin, A L Valentine, C E H Croft, V A Holder and C L Hooper. Of all the current fast bowlers in operation in the West Indies squad, Dillon appears to be the foremost in the lead. He has speed, rhythm, line and length, pegging away over after overs, although at times he has been found to be erratic too. He was the leading wicker taker in the series against India that concluded before the New Zealand tour. Born at Toco in Trinidad, Dillon made his Test debut against India in the 2nd Test at Port of Spain in 1996-97. He is a right-handed batsman and right-arm fast bowler. It is interesting to note that he accomplished the century of wickets against New Zealand whom he was facing for the first time in Test cricket. This was his 27th Test of his career. He has now a tally of 101 wickets from 27 Tests as at the end of the first Test against New Zealand on 24.06.2002 - but unfortunately his team lost the Test. Following is the break of Dillon's victims:
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