Mervyn Dillon

Mervyn Dillon (born 5 June 1974), is a former West Indian cricketer. He has played 38 in Tests and taken 131 wickets. He has also played 108 One Day Internationals from 1997–2004.

Mervyn Dillon

Personal information
Full name	Mervyn Dillon
Born	5 June 1974 Toco, Trinidad and Tobago
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm fast-medium
International information
National side	West Indies
Test debut	14 March 1997 v India
Last Test	16 January 2004 v South Africa
ODI debut	3 November 1997 v South Africa
Last ODI	26 January 2005 v Australia
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1996–2008	Trinidad and Tobago
Career statistics
Competition Tests ODIs FC LA Matches 38 108 91 161 Runs scored 549 227 1,052 459 Batting average 8.44 7.32 8.28 8.50 100s/50s 0/0 0/0 0/1 0/0 Top score 43 21* 52 41 Balls bowled 8,704 5,480 17,001 7,918 Wickets 131 130 291 188 Bowling average 33.57 32.44 29.20 30.38 5 wickets in innings 2 3 7 3 10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0 Best bowling 5/71 5/29 6/40 5/29 Catches/stumpings 16/– 20/– 35/– 35/–
Source: Cricket Archive, 24 October 2010

He has the unwanted record of most ducks ever in a calendar year by a test batsman.[1]

He signed on as an overseas player for the Indian Cricket League in November 2007.

International career

Dillon was born in Mission Village, Toco, Trinidad and Tobago. At one stage, after the bowling greats Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose retired from international cricket, Dillon was the spearhead of the West Indies bowling attack. Subsequently, Dillon was labelled by Simon Briggs as "the natural successor to Courtney Walsh", noting that " his action has a hint of [Walsh's] well-oiled efficiency". According to Briggs, "he takes a high percentage of wickets with the ball that angles in then just holds its own".[2] Steve Waugh labelled him "the West Indies' most notable underachiever...when he had his act together, [he] didn't lose much in comparison to his legendary predecessors [Ambrose and Walsh]...such days were a rarity."[3]

He was involved in a remarkable over at Kandy's Asgiriya Stadium on 21 November 2001 in a test against Sri Lanka when he contracted abdominal pains and was replaced by Colin Stuart after two balls of his third over. Stuart was banned from bowling for the remainder of the innings by umpire John Hampshire after delivering two high, fast full-tosses (called as no-balls) in his first three balls. Chris Gayle completed the last three balls of the over with his off-breaks. It was the only instance in Test cricket history, when three bowlers were used in completing one over.[4]

References

1. http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;filter=advanced;orderby=ducks;template=results;type=batting;view=year
2. Briggs, Simon (September 2004). "Mervyn Dillon". Cricinfo. Retrieved 6 January 2007.
3. Waugh, Steve (2005). STEVE WAUGH: Out of my comfort zone – the autobiography. Victoria: Penguin Group (Australia). p. 690. ISBN 0-670-04198-X.
4. Frindall, Bill (2009). Ask Bearders. BBC Books. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-84607-880-4.