FORMER JAMAICA and West Indies captain Jimmy Adams is back in Jamaica after a two-year absence. In a one-on-one feature, Contributing Editor Tony Becca talked to him about life after representing Jamaica and the West Indies, and apart from expressing some interesting views on West Indies cricket, the solid left-hander says he still enjoys playing the game and is having a lot of fun.
QUESTION: What has life been for Jimmy Adams since you have stopped playing for the West Indies?
JIMMY ADAMS: I played for the Orange Free State in South Africa for two years. I captained the team and it went very well. I have been busy shuttling between South Africa and England - so busy, in fact, that I have not been able to come home. This is the first time home. It was like finishing a game today in England and flying tomorrow to take up commitments in South Africa.
Q: The Free State was known as one of the strong apartheid regions. Did you have a problem there?
JA: No, not at all. I knew a lot about the history of the place, I did a bit of checking before I went there. Alvin Kallicharran played there and I had some discussions with him before I went. I was always going to take up the challenge but talking to 'Kalli' made me sort of sit a bit easier. He said he had a lot of fun, and I did have a lot of fun. A chance to experience and live in a different culture, and the chance to actually captain a team from a different culture was something that intrigued me and I enjoyed it. The important thing was that I walked away after two years knowing that I had done a good job. There was growth there. Every one seemed happy with what I had done.
Q: Sometime ago I did an interview with Brian (Lara) and during the interview he talked about his disappointment at the way you were treated by the West Indies selectors, in that one day you were the captain, the next day you were not good enough to make the team. What were your feelings then, what are your feelings now?
JA: Well, I must tell you there is no difference how I feel today and how I felt then. It has to do with how I felt before my career, during my career and even now. I was never one who believed that I was owed anything. Early in the day I sort of looked at it as having a marketable skill and the thing is that where ever you go, you use that skill to the best of your ability. So at the end of the day, at that point, I had achieved most of the things I had dreamed of before I started and when the decision was made. Although I would have enjoyed playing, if in the view of the selectors I no longer had a part to play in West Indies cricket, I had no problem with that. It was not the first time that I had been dropped in my career. For me, it was a case of what next. Fortunately for me, Free State approached me within a month. I can't say that there have been any regrets.
Q: So there is no truth in the rumour that was going the rounds that you had not been back to Jamaica because you
were disappointed in the way you were treated?
JA: No, no. I just did not have the time. I was playing in England. In the winter months there wasn't going to be any work with the West Indies team, I had my responsibilities in South Africa, and as the captain I had to be there to help with the preparation of the team. There was no way I was going to stay away from home for two years by choice. It was just because of the job that I had to do what had to be done.
Q: Looking from the sidelines, where you do you think West Indies cricket is right now?
JA: I look on the players and straight away I get excited. To have that sort of talent, the Sarwans, the Gayles, the Hindses, the Samuels, that age group, Ganga, Taylor, it excites me, because you say to yourself that to be holding your own at that age is great and what if it all comes together where can we be in a few years time. I am now a fan and to me it is an exciting time - a challenging time really. Experience has taught me, however, that potential can go either way in that you could become a good team or an average team. Because of that, I have to temper this excitement with a question: Is the structure, the system, one that can develop these players, develop young players, so that we can really have a strong international team not only in three or four years time, but also in eight or 10 years time?
Q: I have a concern. The concern is that we are not developing all-round bowling skills, and that if we do not do so, not only will it limit our attack but it will also affect the proper development of our young batsmen certainly in their ability to play good spin bowling.
JA: Well, in my time, although we did not have spin bowlers comparable to the quality fast bowlers, we did have good spin bowlers, even at the youth level, against whom we, as batsmen, could develop our skills. People like Perry, Dhanraj, Ramnarine all played first-class cricket while they were youth players. They won first-class matches before they were 20, so if that does not exist now, there will be a knock-on effect for our young batsmen.
There will also be a knock-on effect for international cricket, for even if we are fortunate enough to produce fast bowlers of the quality of previous years, we are going to need some quality spin bowlers.
I have to come back to two words system and structure. I do not see any difference in talent between say India, Pakistan, the West Indies, England and Australia, but where Australia outstrip all the other teams, barring maybe New Zealand, is that they have a structure and a system to fully develop their cricket.
As cricketers we also have to ask ourselves, what are we willing to sacrifice to get to the top - to be the best? It is a question you ask yourself during your entire career. Am I prepared to take a bus to go to practice; if I have to ask the boss for time off and lose some pay in order to play. Will I do it?
As administrators, we have to ask ourselves what we are willing to sacrifice to get the team to the top. Are we willing to sacrifice our ego and the 'short-termism' in order to get to the level we were not too long ago?
A lot of that will depend on the structure, on the system that is in place. We have to stop talking about talent and deal with talent otherwise we will always be talking only about talent. What, for example, are we doing with our talented 15 and 16-year-olds? We need to show them, our batsmen for instance, how to use their talent, how to score runs, and the importance of consistency.
Q: Where does Jimmy Adams go from here?
JA: That's a difficult one to answer. I am trying to qualify myself as a coach, I have been dabbling in television commentary, but I really don't know what tomorrow will bring. All I know is that I still love cricket, I still enjoy playing cricket, I am having a lot of fun, and although it is now at the club level, I will continue playing until I can do so no more.
Q: Would you say yes if Jamaica call on you?
JA: Well, I would certainly consider it, but the answer would have to be no. Jamaica have too many talented young players for an ex-player to keep one of them out.
