KEY POINTS:
Andre Adams' quest to reinvent himself as a test bowler has got off to a fairly decent start.
Actually, with 13 wickets for Auckland at 8.76 in two State Championship four-day matches, it's off to a brilliant start.
Adams hit the headlines last week with revelations that he
had made himself - temporarily at least - unavailable for the Black Caps' one-day team.
Fed up with the selection vagaries of the present regime, he told a Sunday newspaper: "I've watched some players who were picked ahead of me have a pretty average time of it, and they just kept playing. I've sat on the bench and watched and I've had enough, simple as that."
But there is more to it.
Thanks mainly to his big hitting and a curious bowling delivery that can look closer to traditional Kiwi medium pace than throat-threatening test match fire, the 32-year-old has played out an international career as a one-day specialist.
His statistics, however, suggest his mercurial talents may have been misused.
In his 42 one-day internationals, Adams has taken 53 wickets at an average of 31. He has a career economy rate of 5.22, well above that of a successful containment bowler. His 419 runs with the bat came at a strike rate of just over 100 but at an average of 17.45, statistics of an occasionally successful tail-end blaster.
But his first class bowling statistics make for much more impressive reading - 305 wickets at an average of 25.02, and 2448 runs at 25.23.
Looking purely at his numbers, Adams is a first-class bowler who can bat a bit.
"You get more chances in first class cricket," he says of the apparent anomaly. "If you have a bad spell it doesn't cost you the game. Obviously because I can hit the ball I've been pigeon-holed as a one-day player but I've always preferred the longer version of the game."
His lone test match performance does little to dispel the notion that the strongest string to his bow is bowling with the flannels on.
In a 2002 victory over England, he snared the prized scalps of Michael Vaughan, Nasser Hussein and Andrew Flintoff. He also helped wrap up the tail, getting Matthew Hoggard twice to return match figures of 6-105.
After such an encouraging debut it's a bit of a curiosity that he has never played another test, but Adams is philosophical, putting it down to an untimely run of illness and injury.
A stress fracture cost him six months on the sidelines and then he caught a virus that made him feel dizzy when he exerted himself.
"That was a bit nasty and it was when I was bowling well a few years ago as well. So there were a few circumstances that went with it and it's not surprising I haven't played again. But if you look at my record in first class cricket, I've got over 300 wickets at 25. It's a healthy record and one that I hope to continue."
As for his explosive start to this summer's domestic campaign, Adams puts a lot of it down to his victims struggling for early season form.
Although he has always possessed an ability to bowl a quicker ball, it's not a weapon he has over-used. But now, having been handed the new ball by Auckland and asked to lead a youthful attack, he is working on upping his pace.
"I'm bowling okay. I bowled fast enough down in Christchurch. I'm just trying to bowl accurately. I'll bowl fast if I need to and I'm bowling fast enough, that's for sure. But I don't want to go breaking down at this stage of the season.
"The guys have asked me to bowl a lot faster this year more consistently. But I'm probably not strong enough to be doing that just yet. I need to get in the gym and do some work."
As for his Black Caps future, Adams says his new stance is more about switching his focus to test cricket than any form of retirement.
"I'm just not available at the moment. I had a fairly disappointing last year with not being picked so I've decided to concentrate on the longer version of the game and play more games for Auckland. If I have a reasonable season then I should put my name up in lights and, if I don't get picked I don't get picked. But if I do okay then at least I'll be banging on the door.
"I am happy to play for New Zealand but I'd love to play the longer version. If there's a gap then I'll take it but at this stage I am just concentrating on enjoying my cricket. That seems to work for me."
He also has a back-up plan - to get a French passport through his Corsican grandfather and return to County cricket as a European Union citizen.
