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J IMMY ADAMS REL I SHING
ROLE AT KENT
BY JIM HINDSON Former Notts
batsman Jimmy Adams believes
that the West Indies face the
‘toughest challenge in world
cricket’ when they embark on
their tour of England which
includes an Investec Test match
and a NatWest International T20
fixture at Trent Bridge.
Speaking from his Jamaican home
Adams, who played 54 Test
matches for the West Indies,
believes that the team are in for a
tough time but that it will provide
an invaluable learning experience:
“The West Indies have come back
from a challenging tour in India –
where they played in front of good
crowds in both forms of the game.
It will have brought them closer
together and it’s great to see the
likes of Ravi Rampaul and Fidel
Edwards injury free and getting
an extended run.
“The third Test against an experi-
enced Indian side on the
sub-continent was a fantastic
match which ended as a draw with
the scores level, but the guys now
have to focus themselves on their
next tour. Playing England in
England is the biggest challenge
in world cricket today and I think
it will remain so for the next year
or two as long as the bowling unit
stays fit. That said, I’m sure the
West Indies are relishing the
opportunity to take on the best
team in the world - what better
opportunity to prove yourselves
as cricketers?
.............................
“There will be a number of young
batsmen who have never played
international cricket in the UK
and they will have to cope with
English conditions. There is a hell
of a lot of learning that is going to
happen and the players will be
making the most of that which can
only be good for the team.”
It is 18 years since Adams first
pulled on a Notts sweater as the
overseas player for the 1994
season and as a former
team-mate, I can testify that he
was an incredibly popular
member of the squad. It was also
around this time that he began an
international career that saw the
willowy left-hander amass over
3,000 runs for his country. It is a
time Adams remembers fondly:
“It was great fun playing at Trent
Bridge and a fantastic experience.
I’d played league cricket in
England so I had some knowledge
of the conditions I would encoun-
ter. We finished third in the
County Championship that year
which I think was a credible
performance - Warwickshire were
the number one team with Brian
Lara scoring huge amounts of
runs and Leicestershire finished
second, playing some very good
cricket as well.”
One of my outstanding memories
of Jimmy that summer was the lap
of the field he embarked on at
Edgbaston after bowling out his
West Indies teammate Lara for a
duck. It happened during
Warwickshire’s only defeat in the
County Championship that
season. Adams picks up the story:
“Bowling Brian was, shall we say,
a good feeling. He was in
incredible form and it has to be
one of my more memorable
scalps. I also remember that Chris
Lewis bowled and batted superbly
for us in that game, taking six
wickets and scoring a double
hundred.”
Adams i s the f i rs t to admi t that
whi l e the f i rs t ha l f of the
summer wi th Not t s saw him in
imper ious form, the sheer
volume of cr i cket , fol lowing on
f rom a winter spent on the in-
ternat iona l s tage took i t s tol l
in the longer form of the game .
I t i s jus t thi s type of
exper i ence that Adams wi l l be
br ing ing to hi s new job – as
Head Coach at Kent CCC.
“ I ’d l ike to think a l l of the
knowl edge I ’ ve gathered wi l l
pl ay a par t in how I admini s ter
my rol e at Kent . Pl ay ing c lub
cr i cket around the wor ld,
f i rs t -c l ass in the Wes t Indi es ,
South Af r i ca and Eng l and, and
pl ay ing internat iona l cr i cket
has prov ided me wi th a wea l th
of exper i ence . The l as t three
years has seen me in the rol e
of Techni ca l Di rec tor of
Jama i ca whi ch I ’ ve rea l l y en-
joyed and no doubt a l l of thi s
wi l l s tand me in good s tead for
my new rol e at Kent . ”
MICK NEWELL
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