Neal Collins CRICKET
Jimmy Adams was 22 yards away when Brian Lara began the innings of 375 which would change both of their lives. Lara’s Test record innings against England at Antigua six years ago started with the hard-working Adams looking on from the non-striker’s end. Their lives have been very, very different since.
Jamaican Lara has gone on to fame, fortune – and more recently, the loss of the captaincy and visits to a therapist in New York. Trinidadian Adams struggled to reach Test level but made it with a mixture of grit and determination – and more recently won promotion to the captaincy, where he has single-handedly revived the fortunes of West Indian cricket.
The two home series wins – first Zimbabwe, followed by a dramatic one-wicket victory to clinch matters against Pakistan, has restored order after the Lara-induced chaos.
But Adams, who hung on to register the winning runs in Guyana in the final Test against Pakistan, arrived in England last week knowing the once-all-conquering Calypso Kings had failed to win a first- class match on their past three trips – to Pakistan, South Africa and New Zealand. In game one in England, they were fired out for 164 by Worcestershire at a damp New Road. Lara has lasted just 12 balls in his first three innings on tour, with scores of 1, 1 and 0.
Not that Adams is too worried by Lara’s current state of mind though. At least, not publicly. He bravely faced the microphones insisting: “Brian is fine, fine. He made himself available for this tour. He made it clear he wanted to help get West Indian cricket back to where it should be. That was enough for me.
“He had some personal problems that had a big influence on him at that time. But he’s only been in the side four or five years. He says he’s feeling very good, which is enough for me.”
Has the therapist in New York helped? “He’s only been with the side a few days so I can only go on what he says, and he says he’s feeling good and ready for it. I don’t think he’s a more complex character than anybody else. He has certain ways of dealing with situations, but so have I – I think I’m just as complex as he is!
“Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh? I’ll leave them to do what they’ve been doing. They must assess how long they can go on. I’m happy to leave it that way. We haven’t discussed whether Courtney wants to carry on to play Australia next summer. Come September we’ll have to see how he feels. When I was growing up I dreamt of doing this job, captaining the West Indies. I hope I can continue my winning streak.”
Despite the rain that has bedevilled their preparations in England, Adams has never been a fair-weather cricketer. When he was in Scotland playing for Edinburgh Royal High club before he broke through as a Test cricketer, he didn’t just bat and bowl, he also delivered washing machines between matches.
He grins: “If you think Test cricket is hard work, try manhandling a washing machine up the stairs of an apartment block! It certainly puts a couple of inches on your shoulders. Mind you, I also spent time making snooker tables and selling second-hand cars. And I loved it all.
“In the Caribbean as a cricketer you are always on the move from one island to another. In Britain I felt settled for the first time, as if I’d found a home. Except for the weather!”
Adams, son of a doctor father and a radiographer mother, could have gone into medicine. Instead he became addicted to cricket – but it took him six summers to make a first-class ton and, unlike the 16-months-younger Lara (current Test average 51,60), there was no easy route into the Test team. It was only in 1992 that Adams (average 47,16) graduated to the top flight. Years of diligent batting and crafty bowling followed. And he waited patiently for his chance to assume the captaincy as Richie Richardson, Courtney Walsh and Lara came and went.
“You have to go out to bat believing that if you don’t do the job it won’t get done. When I started, I was as happy-go- lucky as any Caribbean player. But you learn that if you take too many risks it puts the side in danger.”
Brian Lara might do well to remember those words when the first Test starts next week.