Cricket: Adams hopes to cap summer with T20 title

From four matches in this year's HRV Cup, Andre Adams has taken seven wickets at an average of 13.28. Photo / Greg Bowker

At the end of the summer, Auckland Aces allrounder Andre Adams will head back to his 'home' side Nottinghamshire with some impressive accolades.

With only Canterbury on Sunday standing in his way, the HRV Cup is a distinct possibility, while the unofficial title of best import in the country is a near-certainty and the acclaim of his coach is already in the bag.

But there's one additional mark Adams would have liked to brandish back in England - a mark left when a Tim Southee bouncer connected square above his left eye. Unfortunately for Adams, modern medicine put paid to that.

"I don't even have a scar to show for it,'' he says. "It's a real shame - you want to be able to talk about something like that and I've got nothing to talk about.''

If a rugged scar is absent from Adams' head it wasn't for lack of trying. This was no glancing blow from the speedster Southee; Adams left the field clutching a blood-soaked towel to his face and was absent from the Auckland side for the next four matches.

"I've been hit in the head before, those sorts of blows, but nothing square in the face like that,'' he says. "I was just a bit shaken up and had a bit of a headache for a while, but I thought I'd get messed up more than I did.''

His return to the Aces side happened to be against Southee's Northern Knights on January 8 but Adams says there wasn't too much ribbing from the New Zealand bowler.

"He felt a bit bad but that's his job - you've got to make sure the batsman doesn't hit the ball and I was the batsman.

"He actually said, 'sorry, mate', and I said, 'mate, it was a good ball, I'd love to be able to bowl those'.''

Adams gets by just fine at the bowling crease without a booming bouncer in his repertoire. From four matches in this year's HRV Cup, the seamer has taken seven wickets at an average of 13.28 and a strike rate of 12 - both best in the competition among regular bowlers.

And it's not just Twenty20 where Adams has excelled. New Zealand Cricket's domestic MVP standings have him in third place across all forms of the game, and when adjusted for games played Adams stands alone.

But the 36-year-old was quick to deflect praise of his productivity, instead focussing on what he sees as his more meaningful role in the side.

"My bowling sort of takes care of itself,'' he says. "You have the understanding that you could get smashed, you just try to make sure you limit those chances for the batsmen. I'm really enjoying my senior role in terms of setting the fields and talking to the bowlers.

"I do a lot of talking, and when I'm not there those words could be lost. We've got a young bunch of guys so you have to set an example.''

Auckland coach Paul Strang believes Adams has been nothing but beneficial to his side, particularly the younger players.

"He's been brilliant, he's awesome,'' Strang says. "Unless you're around the guy a lot you don't realise how important he is around the team, just with the little insights he gives the young up-and-coming bowlers.

"And it's not only what he does in the field but it's the work he's doing off the field. He helps the senior players create the right atmosphere in the changing room. His experience of lots of cricket overseas is bloody important for us.''

At the conclusion of the summer, Adams will head back to Nottingham, where the former Black Cap has two years left on his county cricket contract. He plays under a West Indian passport, which allows him to play as a local in England but make him an import in his country of birth.

Adams says he'll probably call it a day when his county contract expires and added it was "more than likely'' he'd be seen in Auckland colours for at least the next summer.

"I'll probably be in a wheelchair when I finish there. I'll be 38 then and I don't think I want to be playing too much past that.''

But before future plans can be cemented, there's the small matter of Sunday's HRV Cup final against Canterbury to take care of and Adams is expected to return to the side after being sidelined for two games with illness. He's confident the Aces - with seven wins from nine completed matches - have the side to become T20 kings.

"Yeah, why not? The big thing is about self-belief. Everyone seems to be doing a pretty good job right now. And guys are bowling really well - we've got a nice little unit.''

If the Aces do make it two years in a row, Adams will have an HRV Cup winner's medal to show off in England. It may not be as much a conversation starter as a scraggy scar adorning his eye, but it will be slightly less painful to procure.