January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
I'll spin circles around Somerset
Veteran Adams hoping for Cup Match recall
I'll spin circles around Somerset
The 45-year-old PHC wrist-spinner, who is 29th in the list of all-time Cup Match top wicket-takers with 33 scalps, has bamboozled batsmen across the island in his comeback season following an injury-plagued few years.
And Adams, who last played Cup Match in 2001, reckons he could be around for another decade.
"I never retired, I've still got ten more years in me. There's no more leg-spinners around like me.
"I'm bowling better now at 45-years-old than I ever have...
"I have no big stomach on me. I keep myself fit and healthy and not-bragging, but I still think I'm the best on the island - definitely the most attacking on the island.
"A lot of Somerset's players have never even seen me before. There's too many medium pacers in Bermuda a lot of guys have never seen a bowler who runs in and bowls like me."
Adams will play in the final trial game at the weekend before the St. George's squad is finalized on Saturday night and east end skipper Lionel Cann has highlighted him as someone who could make a big impact as his side bids to retain the cup.
The super-confident slow bowler is keen to eradicate the memories of the 2001 Cup Match when St George's bowling attack were on the wrong end of a battering from Janeiro Tucker who smashed 186 to break the record for the top score ever in the classic.
"I ain't going out like that - he didn't take too many runs off me, but I ain't having that as my last Cup Match.
"If I do play I bet there's a few thousand extra fans that would pay to see me and Janeiro battle it out again.
"I know his daddy used to have him out on the porch practising - bowling off-break, leg-break, saying this is how David Adams is going to bowl to you.
"I saw him a few weeks ago and I said 'get back out on the porch, you're going to need the practice.'"
Adams, who earned the nickname 'Chick' from his primary school days when his mum always used to give him chicken for lunch, is buzzing with self-belief. He's almost sure he will be selected and equally convinced the Somerset batsmen won't know how to handle him.
But it's not all talk. He took four for 23 on his Cup Match debut more than 20 years ago and has proved equally potent this season, claiming 16 wickets at the impressive average of 12.94 in the 50-over league.
He's also excelled in the 20-20 and took six scalps against Cleveland in the only open cricket game his side, PHC, have contested so far.
He believes a result is likely in this year's Cup Match after last year's draw and insists that St. George's, despite being champions, should go for victory.
"Lionel Cann is an attacking player. He'll go for the win. I'd love to play under him.
"People deserve to see attacking cricket they spend a lot of money and sit in a lot of heat. "It's tough. I think Bermuda's the only country in the world where we try and play two innings in two days. But I'm an aggressive bowler and I always play to win.
"Somerset is a result pitch. I don't think anybody's got 200 there this year."
Adams is a champion of the spinner's art - particularly the lost art of wrist spin, which he believes is not practised enough in Bermuda or anywhere in the world.
He's been working with young Bailey's Bay bowler Tre Govia - one of only a handful of leggys on the island and a contender for a place in the St. George's line-up.
And he thinks spin will have a huge part to play in this year's contest, both in terms of entertaining the crowd and ensuring victory for the east enders.
"If our opening bowlers can get us a few wickets the spinners will do the rest.
"People like to see the art of leg-spin, that's what cricket is about.
"I've been hit for some huge sixes in my time but I don't mind that, so long as they're driving. Usually if they get you for a couple of big sixes they get out playing the same shot.
"A lot of young spinners have got no patience - as soon as they get hit they want to bowl medium pace.
"But a lot of guys don't know how to handle wrist spin. I played against the Under-18s and they all laughed when I started tossing up leg-breaks. I got out there and took four wickets - they didn't have a clue."
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