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The long and short of it

Samanth Subramanian

May 23, 2002

Merv Dillon against VVS Laxman - India first innings at Jamaica
© CricInfo

For a bowler groomed to be the spearhead of the West Indian pace attack, Merv Dillon went an unusually long time without a fivewicket haul. After his 5-111 at Karachi in December 1997, Dillon suffered such a drought that he must have felt considerable empathy with Ramnaresh Sarwan, a teammate who also had problems in notching up a statistical milestone. But while Sarwan remains without a Test century to his credit, Dillon got his 5-71 in the Indian first innings at Jamaica.

Dillon's bowling in the two Indian innings presents an interesting study in contrasts. When India got out for 212, he picked wickets with extreme alacrity, at the top of the order as well as the middle. In India's second essay, however, with the pressure on the batting team, Dillon could only manage one wicket for 77 runs in 22.3 overs - that too of Zaheer Khan on the final day with the second new ball.

To analytically compare the performances, take Dillon's head-tohead against the best batsman in either innings. In India's 212, VVS Laxman top-scored with an unbeaten 65 off 152 balls, with seven fours. Dillon, however, conceded only 18 of those runs; Laxman just managed to nudge the fast bowler around for paltry runs.

Merv Dillon against Sachin Tendulkar - India second innings at Jamaica
© CricInfo

Eight of Laxman's runs against Dillon came in the third-man area, and that is telling. As was warranted on a fast, bouncy pitch, Dillon effectively dug the ball in just short of driving length, and Laxman could only score by gliding the ball twice to the third-man boundary for four. For the rest of the 42 deliveries, Dillon was spot-on, and Laxman could just sneak singles and twos.

Admittedly Laxman at the time was under more pressure than Sachin Tendulkar in the second innings, and admittedly Tendulkar is a more versatile player. But Dillon conceded 30 runs in 39 balls to Tendulkar, 22 of them coming in front of square. Tendulkar drove Dillon with ease, a direct result of the fast bowler pitching further up when, on the pacy Sabina Park pitch, he should have done exactly what he did in the first innings - jag it in shorter and let the track do the rest.

If Dillon encountered some hitches with his length, Shivnarine Chanderpaul showed Zen-like mastery over that very quality. Named Man of the Series, Chanderpaul set a new record for the longest interval between two dismissals. In racking up scores of 67 not out, 101 not out, 136 not out and 58, the Guyanese batsman tormented the Indians for 1,513 minutes in all before Javagal Srinath had him caught behind at Sabina Park. Perhaps unsurprisingly, India, along with Zimbabwe, bore the brunt of the previous record as well when Jacques Kallis tallied 1,241 minutes earlier this year.