Eager Jimmy Eyes Up Deluge Of Runs

Richard Edwards talks to Hampshire veteran Jimmy Adams, who is raring to go for his 18th season of competition

- Richard Edwards

Few players in county cricket are as well-versed in the vagaries of preseason preparation as Jimmy Adams, the former Hampshire captain.

He returned to report for action for the 18th year in succession in 2018, after dispelling rumours that he would call it quits at the end of last season.

Ask him to sum his pre-season up, though, and his language is succinct. “Damp,” he laughs. “I’ve not seen anything like it. I haven’t got the best memory these days but I really can’t recall one so wet.”

The rain and the storm clouds that have severely limited all county preparations so far this season could be seen as a metaphor for the gloom that threatens to envelop the county game.

The build-up to the season has been dominated by the decision of some players – including Adams’ county team-mate, Reece Topley – to turn their back on the four-day game and focus purely on white ball cricket.

Topley’s decision was primarily down to a need to maintain and restore his physique, with the left-armer refusing to rule-out a return to the Championship. Others, though, have signalled their intentions very clearly.

So does one of county cricket’s most likeable and respected figures believe that English cricket is witnessing a sea change in attitude towards the game’s traditional four-day format?

“The four-day game – and I think I speak for a good number of people – if you’re fortunate to still be in the mix at the end of the year, then I think it still holds a huge amount of kudos,” the 37- year-old tells The Cricket Paper.