CRICKET: Adams relishing his first match of the season

Jimmy Adams is relishing the prospect of embarking on a cricket season without the distractions which dogged the opening months of his 2015 campaign.

Following his decision to relinquish the Hampshire captaincy in July last year, Adams rediscovered his form with the bat, playing a vital role as the Ageas Bowl side retained their County Championship Division One status, against all conceivable odds.

And Adams, who succeeded Dominic Cork as skipper in 2012 and had his long service to the club rewarded with a benefit last year, is looking forward to his first match of the season against Middlesex tomorrow after recovering from the ankle injury that ruled him out of the draws against Warwickshire and Yorkshire.

“I’m certainly looking forward to this year, without some of the stuff that was bubbling along in the background last year,” said Adams, who made 117 for the 2nd XI against Somerset this week.

“The captaincy was a real privilege, but there are also times when you can find yourself too immersed in things. I don’t know how this season will go, but I am very much looking forward to it.

 “It’s been frustrating to miss out so far, but I can’t complain too much. I’ve never had to miss a game through an injury before, so I’ve been fairly lucky.”

Despite guiding his team to Lord’s glory in 2012, when Hampshire beat Warwickshire in the final of the now defunct 40-over competition, and masterminding promotion into the top-flight in 2014, Adams admits that he never viewed captaincy as a long-term proposition.

He said: “I think it got to the point where it was starting to weigh on me a bit more than it had in previous years. I don’t think I ever thought I was going to do it for a long, long time.

"You have to be very strong, a certain character to be able to do it for a long period. Someone like Mark Nicholas (Hampshire captain for a decade from 1985) is a prime example of that.

“I did always have it in my head that after a few years it would be nice to finish my career playing without the stripes. I’m looking forward now to this year and beyond, hopefully.”

After replacing Adams in the post, James Vince oversaw Hampshire’s remarkable finish to last season, winning three and losing only one of his six championship matches at the helm.

Their renaissance saw Hampshire pip Sussex to safety by two points. Adams, meanwhile, was finding his touch in the middle. The opener followed up a century at Taunton, against Somerset, by delivering 70 priceless runs from his bat at Trent Bridge, as his team chased down 200 on the season’s final day at Nottinghamshire to complete the great escape.

And the left-hander intends to contribute on all fronts this year.

Asked if Hampshire would be prioritising one particular format of the game, Adams pointed to the attitude of another of the county’s former captains, Shane Warne, who targeted victory in every single match, regardless of its wider context.

“With the history we’ve had in the T20 (Hampshire have contested finals day in each of the last six seasons, winning the tournament in 2010 and 2012), some people might see that as the competition to earmark. But I sense that you start the season and think you can win every game.

“I remember Shane Warne saying exactly that in his early days at the club. He would say we are going to try and win every game. If you do that you’ll win every trophy. The likelihood of that happening, of course, is slim. But you don’t go into any game thinking ‘no, this one’s not for us’.

“But I do think, in four-day cricket, last year’s topsy-turvy campaign highlighted the importance of starting well. So that’s our priority for the first part of the year. “

Australian legend Warne, who finished his Test career with 708 wickets, returned to Hampshire as skipper in 2002, having already spent the 2000 season on the south coast.

And Adams says the former leg-spinner’s fearless outlook is something he still draws on today.

“I was very lucky,” explained former England Lions batsman Adams. “Shane came along at a time in my career, when having someone of his character and his presence here really helped me.

"When he looked you in the eye and said ‘come on mate, I need you’, it gave you real belief. To feel that someone like him believed in me was a huge fillip.

“I think the guys that were fortunate enough to play with him can always draw on things from that time. There can be game times when you feel like you’re a long way behind the eight-ball. Warney had this incredible belief that a game could be won from any situation.

“I’d like to think a good number of us have carried that through. When we’re in a tricky situation we still believe we can turn it around. That’s the resilience we showed last year, and we’ll need to replicate it this year.”

And Adams insists that, in Vince, Hampshire have the perfect character to spearhead a side which represents a fascinating mix of exciting youngsters and veteran campaigners, the category into which the 35-year-old now falls, 14 years after his first-class debut.

“It’s tough, because you don’t want to add to the weight of expectation on him,” said Adams, when asked about both Vince’s leadership credentials and international prospects.

“But I do believe that his ability as a player is suited to international cricket. I think he has that time at the crease - and technically he’s strong enough.

“As a captain, the beauty of Vincey is that every time he takes to the field he’s a real competitive sod.

"He wants to win and he’ll do almost anything to achieve that. He’s got a good cricket brain and hopefully a few of us older stagers can help him if he needs it – but I don’t really think he does.

“I think he possesses the self-assurance that the decisions he’s making are the right ones. It would be very good if he’s around for us, but I have a feeling that we might not see as much of him as we’d like.”

Hampshire fans can, however, expect to see plenty of the club’s promising batch of emerging talent in action this year.

Adams believes 19-year-old Mason Crane, who burst onto the scene with his wicket taking leg-spin last year, will to continue to flourish this time round.

And the ex-captain is confident that the trio of Crane’s fellow 19-year-old Joe Weatherley, Tom Alsop (20) and 21-year-old Lewis McManus, all of whom fired with the bat throughout pre-season, share the capacity to seize any first-team opportunity to come their way.

He said: “Lewis, Tom and Joe have been brilliant in pre-season. They’ve scored runs almost every time they’ve had an opportunity. I think all of them are ready.

"You can never be 100% sure, because experience is a great asset as well. But I certainly don’t think any of us are worried about them having to play.

“If Tom is selected in the first game, which I think he will be, then fingers crossed he can have a bit of luck and he can have a really, really good year for us.”

With the increase in players knocking at the first-team door, Adams is eyeing a return to the sort of prolific form that saw him score more than 1,200 runs during his side’s Division Two winning season two years ago.

“I’ll continue for as long as I’m able to help the squad move forward – and if I pick up my form,” he said.

“Last year was a disappointment in that sense. Hopefully I can still contribute in all forms. I missed a bit of T20 last year and I’d like to force my way back into that reckoning.

“I certainly don’t want to stand in the way of guys coming through. The competition for places is good. We’ve got some very young players. If they’re ready to go, and performing better than me, then that will be something I’ll have to consider down the line. But, fingers crossed, I’ve still got something to offer.”

Turning his thoughts back to the here and now, Adams is determined that his side avoid their early season malaise of 2015, instead using the momentum of last year’s sprint for the line to propel them on to a flying start this term.

Speaking at the county's pre-season press day, he said: “You want to start well. When you do start winning games it breeds belief. It’s infectious. People talk about momentum and it’s an unknown quantity.

"But it does have an effect. We managed to get on a roll at the end of last year, whereas we stalled in the blocks at the start of the season.

“If we can get an early win, or put in a strong early performance, that will really help us. But I do think we’re more resilient following the experience of last year.

"So if things don’t work out quite as we hope, then I believe we have the character to turn things around quicker than we did last year – but hopefully it doesn’t come to that.”