Paul Adams - South Africa - Bowler

Adams burst into the international scene with his boyish looks at a tender age of 18 and immediately harassed England with an assortment of googlies and chinamans coupled with a strange bowling action that left the batsmen struggling to pick him up. The normally free flowing batsmen of India, reputed for their nimbleness against any kind of spin were his next victims as Adams clinched his first ever 5-wicket haul at Kanpur.

Born on January 20, 1977 in Cape Town, Adams did not have much knowledge about his bowling himself. It was left to his coach, the great Eddie Barlow to give his career a direction. His bowling action is a difficult puzzle to solve in itself. Adams seemed to be watching the sky while delivering the ball and still managed to beat the batsmen who were prepared to use their feet against him. He held the ball with two fingers of his left hand (thumb, and the index finger).

It was only a matter of time for his novelty to ware off and once it did, Adams struggled partly because the batsmen were used to his assortment of deliveries as well as his action but also his own lack of variety. Injuries took a toll on him and he lost the number one spinning slot to Nicky Boje. Adams played his last Test for South Africa against New Zealand in Hamilton in 2004 at the age of 26. He slowly drifted out of all forms of cricket and announced his retirement in 2008 at the age of 31.

Known to his friends as Gogga meaning insect, Adams is now an expert analyst for various television channels in South Africa.

By Pradeep Krishnamurthy