The Independent Voice of West Indies Cricket

Jerome Taylor Unplugged

Tue, Feb 17, '04

by MICHELLE MCDONALD

interviews

As he battles back from a back injury that robbed him of a place in the West Indies squad to South Africa, teenage West Indies fast bowler Jerome Taylor is unfazed by the long road ahead.

"I got back into the Jamaica team just to prove to the selectors that I will be OK for the England series...If I get selected, I want to come back with a bang," he tells CaribbeanCricket.com roving reporter Michelle McDonald. The wide-ranging interview follows:

MM: Jerome, last year July I spoke with you a few weeks after you played your first game for the West Indies. Compare for us your expectations of being a West Indies player, with what you have actually experienced.

JT: There?s nothing different from how I looked at it before. Looking at it from before, I always wanted to give it my best, and now I always want to give it my best shot whenever I get the chance to. Whenever I get the chance again, I just hope to give it my best shot. Playing for the West Indies is a great feeling, and reaching in the team, yes, you?re going to feel a bit happy. But playing over and over and knowing what the situation is like and knowing what it is like to now play for the West Indies team, you become a bit more settled with the players, so you get to know how to deal with things different from there.

What have been the good things about representing the West Indies?

Well the good thing about it is that now you are representing the Caribbean. You become a celebrity so people are looking up to you and you have to make them feel happy. You have to make your fans feel happy by performing.

You were at the Academy when you got the call up to play for the West Indies. The Academy was set up to prepare young promising cricketers for the highest level. Has the time spent at the Academy been useful to you at all? In what way?

Well basically what we did at the Academy is like everyday thing here because my coach, Junior Bennett, we always go through the same procedure that we did at the Academy. But you have a little more mental stuff. Mentally as a cricketer, I?m a bit stronger now since the Academy.

When you signed the contract for the Academy, did you notice the clause which said that players would not be released from classes to play for the West Indies if selected? How did you manage to get released? Had they changed the rules by then?

Yes, we noticed that. I just took the opportunity to go because going to the Academy, I thought that after leaving the Academy, I would be a much better cricketer. I don?t think the rule was changed, but really and truly, to say how I got released, I don?t know but they just sent me off and I was really happy for that.

You mentioned last year that on arrival in St Vincent, your Jamaicans teammates and some other WI players congratulated you and made you feel welcomed, which helped to take the pressure off you. Did you continue getting support from the team members when you went on the tour to Zimbabwe?

Well yes, I got support from each and every member of the team. They were cheering me on and telling me to believe in myself because I can do whatever it takes to be there so I am good enough to be there.

Tell us about the Zimbabwe experience. Reflect on your performance in the matches you played there.

I didn?t have a bad performance in the game. I only played one game in Zimbabwe and during that game I could only bowl in the 1st innings. After I bowled in the 1st innings I got a pull in my back so I had to get out of the game and from there I just took it one step at a time. Yes it was a good experience, knowing how to deal with the guys away from home.

You were a top wicket taker in schoolboy cricket in Jamaica. How do you handle not getting wickets when you?re playing for the West Indies?

At schoolboy level, it is much easier playing cricket there. When you get to the test level you know that the guys, they are professionals, they know the stuff, so you have to be thinking more, because they are thinking about what you?re doing. Really and truly, I am not depressed at the moment because step by step, I know I will get there somehow.

How can the authorities that run cricket in the West Indies help youngsters to adjust better to Test cricket?

Well for the adjustment, a lot is dependent on me of course because I?m the individual who is going out there to compete at any time. They can say little, or they can say nothing, but I am the one who has to put it in practice. The way in which they can help me is by talking to me and telling me stuff. I have had a few sessions with past players, for example Courtney Walsh and he is giving me ideas about how to go about it. Just keep it tight and all you have to do is work your line and length whenever you get the chance and things will work out your way.

You had to be sent home from the African tour because of injury. Tell us how that injury came about, what kind of injury it was.

Really, I don?t know what kind of injury it was. All I know is it was a back injury. I don?t know if it was any sort of bone or muscle, but I just got the feeling that it was a muscle injury because after getting injured, I could run and all that.

What treatment did you get in Africa?

All I did there was some ultra sounds, an MRI and a CT scan. The MRI and CT scan came back negative.

And when you came back home?

When I came back home I just continued with the programme by doing some work with Miss Elizabeth Robinson who is the physiotherapist. I continued to do ultrasounds and they gave me deep heat treatment and I did some rehabilitation work with the physical trainer, David Bernard.

The West Indies team manager was reported in the media as saying that your injury was more in your mind than anything else. How would you respond to that comment?

Well after doing the MRI and the CT and both results were negative so then they didn?t have anything to say I?m really injured to be sure but I?m the individual who is feeling whatever is happening so if they don?t want to hear from me then I don?t know because doctors, what they?re doing is probably making assumptions as well. I?m the one who knows how I feel so I just tell them how I feel.

Did you then not do any work that they set you to do, because you were feeling pain even though the tests came back negative?

Well I can?t remember not doing any work while on the tour. When we were supposed to go to South Africa I was supposed to go through a fitness test and I reached part way in the fitness test and I pulled out because I felt the pain coming back so I told them I couldn?t manage it.

You?re injured with your back again in this Carib Beer match against Trinidad. Is it the same injury?

No, this one is not anything too serious. I guess coming from a back injury, in this the fourth consecutive game, I think the work load is much heavier now so I think that is what is happening so far.

Was it left to you to decide whether or not you would bowl today (Day 3)?

Well not really, but after going through the warm up and after finishing, with the way how I felt, I decided that I?d not take the field. I?d rather take the rest than take the field based on how I was feeling.

This is your fourth game. Do you think you have improved as the games have progressed?

From what I think, yes, because coming up from the first game, growing in confidence, yes my confidence is a bit higher now. But as how I would like to bowl, it is not there as yet. As I said, I?ll just have to take it one step at a time and hopefully I?ll get there very soon.

Were you fit when you arrived at the pre-tour camp in Antigua?

Yes I was fully fit. We all did a fitness test in Antigua and I must say that I was one of the fittest players in Antigua. I passed both tests in flying colours. My physical fitness, I take it very, very, very seriously. In the off season, I still do my training. I do normal training like bowling, physical work but I don?t do any gym work off season because I?ve never been to a gym. I don?t know what to do at a gym.

But I thought that the Jamaica Cricket Association gives players passes?

Yes, I got a pass, but during the time I should have been going to the gym, I was called up and had to go on tour. But just coming back, being injured, I decided I wouldn?t do any sort of gym work while the injury is on. I would wait until I get over it. I would prefer to do the gym work in off season rather than during the season because while you have cricket going on, doing gym work - I do feel it might be too taxing for the body so I just give it a break.

Do you believe you have the ammunition to be an excellent fast bowler?

Well yes, I think of myself in that way. I always want to be the greatest fast bowler ever. That is how I think about myself. I have the confidence in myself to do it and I do believe that I?m going to prove it some day.

Let?s look on the other side. How would you handle the disappointment if you tried and tried and you weren?t getting to where you wanted?

I don?t think I would feel disappointed until the day my cricket career ends. Disappointment comes and goes; you have to know how to handle it. It?s how quickly you get over it that is how you will get there.

Looking forward to England, what are your thoughts about your possible selection?

I got back into the Jamaica team just to prove to the selectors that I will be OK for the England series. As I said, everything will be left up to the selectors. If I get selected, I want to come back with a bang. I?d like to prove to people that look, I have what it takes and I will give it my best.