Adams Family not especially happy

Like many of you, I keep an eye on the successes and failures of former Derbyshire players. To be fair, there have not been too many over the years who have gone elsewhere to match or surpass their achievements at the County Ground. Kim Barnett did at Gloucestershire, proving a major factor in their successful one-day period and Peter Bowler played with distinction for Somerset over several seasons. Ian Blackwell has also done well at Somerset and now Durham, but there have been plenty for who the grass was of a more insipid hue on the other side of the fence.

Players like Rob Weston, Matt Cassar, Adrian Rollins, Devon Malcolm, Ant Botha, Harold Rhodes, Mike Hendrick and Geoff Miller all had less success on leaving the club, though granted one or two of the above were in the twilight of their careers when they did so. Mind you, we have signed a few in our time with varying degrees of success. There's probably a book "Old Lags of Derbyshire Cricket" in there, with names such as Fred Trueman, Clive Inman, Ron Headley, Steve Titchard, Colin Wells, Rob Bailey, Phil Weston and Tim Munton all coming to us after their best days were behind them.

Perhaps the greatest feats of those who left the county were achieved by Chris Adams, who moved to Sussex and the captaincy in the fall out over Dean Jones departure from the club. Adams was a fine, aggressive batsman and a brilliant fielder, yet no one at Derbyshire saw him as captaincy material. Maybe Sussex didn't either, but struck it lucky when they dangled the carrot in front of him to aid a move to the South coast.

Adams turned a side of perennial under-achievers into champions, then did it again. He was aided by some good players, including, in Mushtaq Ahmed, the best overseas county bowler of the past twenty years. If Kirtley and Lewry got a couple of early wickets, Adams could pretty much bring on Mushtaq to bowl at one end for the rest of the innings, something he did with control and considerable guile.

Such a statement is unfair, as Adams backed his bowlers with clever field settings and an aggressive style of play, often prepared to sacrifice his own average for the team cause when quick runs were required. He moved up and down the order to suit the circumstances and always looked in control of affairs on the pitch. For me, he and Kent's Rob Key have been the two best county skippers I've seen in recent years, both setting intelligent fields and knowing how to get the best out of their bowlers.

He was set to leave Sussex in 2006 to take up a Director of Cricket role on a four-year deal at Yorkshire, then quickly realised he had made a mistake and resigned the post, saying that he did not feel able to deal with such a role at that stage. He had two further years at Sussex before bowing out to become the supremo of Surrey cricket.

There he has had more than his fair share of problems, ridding the club of a number of under-performing senior professionals and investing in youth. It was a bold policy, but the appointment of Rory Hamilton-Brown as skipper was always going to be contentious. Rumours persist of dressing room unrest and the club's struggles on the pitch have continued for a second successive season. With their feisty opening bowler Andre Nel suspended for throwing the ball at an opponent, the team find themselves unable to score enough runs or take enough wickets, hardly a recipe for success.

Adams is not the first to experience the difficulties in the switch from on to off-field leader. Eddie Barlow never had success at Gloucestershire when he was unable to change playing fortunes himself, while fine players like Graham Gooch, John Emburey and Clive Rice had only limited success once their own inspirational deeds were no longer part of the magical formula.

Adams may yet turn Surrey around but needs to be given time. This summer may mark the last of Mark Ramprakash's career and replacing him will be a huge task. With young players it has to be a long term plan, but the question remains as to whether Adams bosses will allow that time or demand more immediate results.

The parallel at Derbyshire, of course, would be in John Morris releasing Wayne Madsen, Garry Park and Tim Groenewald and playing Paul Borrington, Dan Redfern and Atif Sheikh in every game. It might be deemed a laudable, brave move in some quarters but carries an element of risk in the short to medium term. Whether Adams has the security he needs for such a bold gesture is something we'll find out in the next few months. The fact that the crowd booed them off the other night does not bode well and Adams will need all of his skills to ride out a gathering storm at the Oval.