YOUR eyes are not deceiving you. Yes, that is Steve Folkes in a West Indian cricket uniform.

The former Bulldogs mentor arrived in New Zealand during the week to begin his new role as the Windies' strength and conditioning coach, effective from Friday, when their tour match against Auckland begins at Eden Park.

Folkes was recruited earlier this year by West Indies coach John Dyson, with whom he once worked in the NSW education system, and joins a squad boasting Stanford millionaires that include Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

"I can remember going to the cricket ground in Australia and watching Sir Garry Sobers, Wes Hall, Rohan Kanhai, Roy Fredericks and other great West Indies players," Folkes said.

"Naturally I got autographs from them all, so I understand that West Indies have a very proud and successful heritage. I will do my part to have a positive environment, good team atmosphere and good team culture.

"My football career showed that I'm a winner and I know that the Windies are eighth in the world rankings right now, so I will do all I can to help to push that up and bring a winning attitude and positive drive. It has been going really well.

"The sport is different from what I'm used to but the guys have been welcoming and we managed to do some decent sessions over the last few days. It's pretty good.

"The switch from rugby league to cricket is a bit different.

"My background is in strength and conditioning, and then I went to coaching. The sports are different and the needs are different so I just need to adjust.

"I will learn by watching and I have spoken to John Dyson and sought his advice."