Was Jimmy Adams sacked too soon?

[mr_mister]

So Jimmy took the captaincy reigns at the beginning of 2000.

In his first 3 series he lead his side to victories against Zimbabwe and Pakistan before losing to England.

Across these 10 tests he averaged 38 with a century and 3 fifties(one a 98). It also included a 48* off 212 balls to guide the Windies to a 1 wicket win and clinch the series against Pakistan, including having to get the last 20 runs with Courtney Walsh as his batting partner. This patch of form was nothing amazing or close to his previous form from the mid 90s, but he was hardly useless.

Then comes the famous tour to Australia, he only scores 151 runs in the series and of course the Windies lose 5-0. However, this was a task I hardly feel he should have taken the full blame for. He had basically no decent players except Lara and a 39 year old Walsh and they were up against arguably the greatest ever test side in the middle of their world record run of wins... at home. The whitewash was inevitable before a ball was bowled and the pressure on him must have been immense.

Despite being only 33 at the end of the tour, he never played another international match for his country despite still averaging 41 with the bat and his captaincy record standing at 2 series wins and 2 series losses.

Was it unfair he was just dropped completely? Rather than simply being demoted to a non-captaincy role?

 

[Beamer]

Very good thread and question. This was at the start of my Windies supporter journey, but IIRC this was a time when we were still used to winning a lot of matches and the losses and near losses within that period, as well as the manor of the defeats in Australia, were seen as too much.

Jimmy is a good man and doing a good job as our Director of Cricket.

 

[Beamer]

Was it unfair he was just dropped completely? Rather than simply being demoted to a non-captaincy role?

His batting was regressing rapidly, I remember thinking he just didn't look the same. But yes, I do think it all happened a bit quickly, he could have regained form. We do tend to send senior pros on their way a bit too quickly. The current T20 setup is a nice exception to that role.

 

[sledger]

I guess what you're really asking is whether Jimmy Adams needed a stronger West Indies

 

[mr_mister]

His batting was regressing rapidly, I remember thinking he just didn't look the same. But yes, I do think it all happened a bit quickly, he could have regained form. We do tend to send senior pros on their way a bit too quickly. The current T20 setup is a nice exception to that role.

I've been reading about him recently and was surprised to find his highest test score, 208 against NZ came after the Andre van Troost bouncer incident. He also batted through an entire day with Lara in the '99 series to help turn the tide.

I'm sceptical of the accepted narrative that he went from great to useless overnight after the bouncer hit him. I think it's more he went from potentially ATG to just serviceable. But when they had Sherwin Campbell playing 50 tests averaging 30 it makes you realise Jimmy was a bit unfairly treated. He had to start really grinding his runs out but that's the type of player his side kinda needed more of.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Sherwin Campbell was pretty much west indies' version of ss Das so I liked him quite a bit

 

[mr_mister]

He was entertaining but a shot a ball waste man, like a lot of their players

Adams had grit and could bat serious time

 

[honestbharani]

Adams regressed heavily as a batsman and needed flashes of luck to make any runs in the time in question. He just did not have any shots, but could bat a decent length of time but its a silly thing for a #5/6. Ideally, Windies would have had a Lara, Hooper, Adams, Chanderpaul middle order but the two in between did not progress the way they should have for various reasons.

 

[Camo999]

I love Jimmy Adams. An interesting interview here where he reflects on his career and hints at a stress related illness in the 2nd half of his career.

Certainly by the end of that harrowing Aus tour he looked done and it was probably a relief to get out at that point. He definitely got a hospital pass having to captain that tour. From memory Hooper didn't play, Chanderpaul didn't play (or maybe got injured?) and Ambrose wisely retired before the tour. I don't think he was really a natural captain either tactically, although he seemed to be a calm influence and widely respected. Once Hooper came back in and succeeded (in some easier assignments) with Lara and Chanders around and with Sarwan, Samuels and Gayle emerging I don't think he was ever really in contention again was he? They sort of had the middle order bat / backup spinner role covered, and the other guys were better ODI players too. A shame it ended like that for him cause he seems like a great guy.

I think he played a season in South Africa and maybe a little in England but he didn't play on professionally for a great deal longer as I recall.

Edit: Stumped off the bowling of KP for 43 in his last List A match in 2004 playing for Wiltshire.

 

[a massive zebra]

He was entertaining but a shot a ball waste man, like a lot of their players

This is the first time I've heard a man with a strike rate of 40 labelled as a shot a ball waste man.

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

This is the first time I've heard a man with a strike rate of 40 labelled as a shot a ball waste man.

They might not have been good shots.

 

[mr_mister]

This is the first time I've heard a man with a strike rate of 40 labelled as a shot a ball waste man.

Watching highlight packages of him it just seems to be a lot of slogs. Maybe he's more of a block, block, swing and miss, swing and edge, swing and finally middle one type of waste man

 

[TheJediBrah]

Watching highlight packages of him it just seems to be a lot of slogs. Maybe he's more of a block, block, swing and miss, swing and edge, swing and finally middle one type of waste man

spot on. I can see why watching highlights he would come across as a bit of an attempted Sehwag/BMac type player. But he was pretty ordinary

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Was it unfair he was just dropped completely? Rather than simply being demoted to a non-captaincy role?

Was this around the same time he started to get bald?

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

Sherwin was one of the last dudes to wear a no-grill helmet and for that I salute him.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Sherwin was one of the last dudes to wear a no-grill helmet and for that I salute him.

One of my favorite Windies players around that time...Remember when he and Philo Wallace used to give us a brisk start. Poor Adrian Griffith tho

 

[yabo101]

miss seeing him in the field

 

[honestbharani]

Sherwin was one of the last dudes to wear a no-grill helmet and for that I salute him.

Hooper did that too I think, even after Sherwin was out.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Hashan Tillekaratne was probably the last guy to don them in tests.

 

[Moss]

Matt Horne too from the same time-frame used to don a no-grill helmet. Though I think his final test came before Hashan's.

There's a pretty good interview with Jimmy Adams on the Australia-West Indies battles through his career (1992-2001). I guess the fact that he goes into each series from 92-99 in some detail but has little to say about the 2000-01 one tells its own story. He's pretty philosophical about it which almost suggests he felt he was done too.