'We have a good chance of winning the World Cup'

I haven't seen much cricket where West Indies dominated. I was born in 1983. Till 1990 I didn't understand too much about cricket. It was only in `91 that I began to understand. West Indies used to win then, but they weren't as convincing as the team of the `80s. I used to always enjoy [watching] West Indies play. Whenever they used to play at the Oval I used to go and watch and pick up tips from big players.

But it's important to carry on the legacy. People around the world know the kind of teams that West Indies have produced and all players are committed to one task and looking in one direction. Our goal is clear now; now's the time to come back especially with the World Cup coming up. If we stay focused and together, we have a good chance of winning the World Cup.

We struggled for a while and the team hasn't been as happy as we'd like it to be. We all are different people, from different backgrounds. Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels are two who are a bit more laidback and quiet types. I am someone who loves to make everyone happy, loves smiling, loves making jokes, loves riddles. I have a personality where people can come up to me without being shy. I think it's one of my biggest assets.

I think [in] this team, the guys have reached a point really where they are upset about many things - about themselves, about results, about administration. There've been a lot of problems in the West Indies between sponsors and players, between players and board. I don't think West Indies teams have gone into any tournament with a proper frame of mind where they can just concentrate and enjoy their cricket. Players have constantly something to think about and that's very hard when you're dealing with pressure situations. We are young professionals - if you take out Brian [Lara], the average age in the team is around 22-23. If you look around at other teams worldwide, you have a lot of senior players - some above 29-30.

We as a team think this is the right time to move forward. We started with the series win against Zimbabwe and were really looking forward to the India series, knowing that it would be a test for us to see how far we have reached. The result have shown.

It's very difficult. At that point of time we'd just won the ICC Champions Trophy. The new coaching staff had come and had brought different methods and different styles. We as West Indians are a bit laidback and their style and how they wanted us to play was something difficult for us to immediately adapt to. We had our own style and they brought in something new. It took us a while to get accustomed to, but everything is settling down now and we're all clear about what we want to achieve and where we want to go.

Bennett's someone who believes in repetition, he believes that if you want to do something, you got to do it over and over again before you perfect it. Bennett makes sure that we don't fall behind in that area. If we need to hit 300 balls a day, he'll make sure we do it. If it's 25 balls, he'll make sure we'll do it. During his sessions, Bennett makes sure that everyone does a bit of everything. He tries to make someone like Fidel Edwards better with the bat and some batsmen better with the ball. He wants a team that is well balanced and one that can fit in any situation.

Very important. I got a century 3-4 months earlier against the South Africans but to me it was a huge difference. The [South African] bowling was much easier and the game was heading towards a draw - with nearly 800 runs scored and we were never in trouble. In Australia, I told myself that I want people around the world to take notice, that I got to stamp my authority against the best bowling attack you can possibly get, especially when they're playing at home. When I went in to bat there was a lot of pressure. West Indies were five wickets down without too many runs. That innings helped because it was made when the team was under pressure. I got mentally tougher. You had Brett Lee at one end and Glenn McGrath at the other, so you couldn't afford to lapse at any time. Then you had [Shane] Warne and [Stuart] MacGill, so I had four world-class bowlers to contend with.

I don't think domestic cricket in the West Indies is high quality. Standards are very low. It's one of the reasons why West Indies have been doing badly recently. The grounds, the facilities ... aren't up to standards. We don't have too many coaching academies or clinics. We want to see proper grounds in the West Indies, with proper facilities where you have gym and nets in one area. The standards are very low in first-class cricket and it's not as good as in South Africa, England and Australia.

I admire Chris Cairns's slower ball. It gets most people out of position. Courtney Walsh had a very good slower ball as well. Shaun Pollock too. The slower ball now, especially in one-dayers, is a lethal weapon. People use it as a wicket-taking ball.

No one exactly showed me how to bowl a slower ball. I have learnt it on my own, practicing the way it comes out of the hand. Also, it helps to have a few variations and confuse the batsmen.

It helps a lot. If you bat well, you tend to bowl well. If you check my performances, you'll see that I've done very well in one department when I've been doing well in the other. In New Zealand, I suffered a side strain and couldn't bowl and had a very average series with the bat. When I came back to play domestic cricket, I had one of my worst seasons for Trinidad & Tobago because of the same problem - I must have averaged around 10 or so. When I'm bowling and batting, it helps mentally. I'm someone who loves to be part of the game always - dive around, run around, bowl, bat. You tend to feed on both parts of the game and it helps.

Yes. That's the good thing about being an allrounder. You know what's going through a bowler's and batsmen's mind in different situations. You yourself have been in such a situation before and have an idea of what to do.