Twenty-four–year old Anthony Adams is a left–arm spin bowling all-rounder who is quite competent with the bat.
Adams, who hails from the quiet village of Suddie on the Essequibo Coast, has been kept as a fringe player over the years and must have caused the selectors some headache (it would be a surprise if he didn’t) given the fact that he is one of the consistent performers in this year’s Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Jaguars three–day franchise league.
After three rounds Adams has taken three, five-wicket hauls, two of which came in one match. For good measure he has also scored a century. He is the only all-rounder after three rounds with those impressive figures – a century and 10 wickets in the same match.
Stabroek Sport sat down with the young man to get a little insight into his earlier playing days and the persons who would have made an impact on his career.
“Most of what I learnt over the years, I learnt under Coach Forbes Daniels starting with the basics of cricket which I took very seriously and worked hard at it,” Adams recalled.
He also credited the Senior South Essequibo environment for some of the skills he has developed over the years. Adams recalled being introduced to the sport by former national youth players, Dillon Heyliger, Royston Alkins and Santos teammate, Floyd Henry, all of whom were his childhood friends. These men, along with others, would usually play the sport in the streets during that time.
However, it was a cricket summer camp, initiated by Coach Daniels, which really made an impact on the young man’s early playing days and which he still relies on.
“Yeah, the junior programme in South (Essequibo) under Coach Daniels is a pretty solid one. It is there that a lot of youngsters are introduced to the sport. We got to learn the rules and the basics because no one else at the time didn’t really have an interest in us as Coach Daniels did,” Adams, who made his first-class debut last year, said.
He added: “Cricket in South (Essequibo) has always been competitive and produced a lot of good junior players who don’t go on. I think what we need is more sponsored cricket because we don’t play a lot these days and there’s been a decline.”
Furthermore, Adams stated that Essequibo is in need of better cricket facilities and regularly slashed grounds which would augur well for the cricket and also more support for programmes such as the one that Coach Daniels manages. The Junior Programme by Coach Daniels has produced the Fredericks brothers, Royan and Norman, Heyliger, Alkins, Rayon Thomas, and Akeni Adams, who all represented Guyana at the junior level while Thomas also represented the national senior team.
Adams, the only one to play First-Class cricket in recent times, believes that the programme, along with others are needed to harness the talent in Guyana’s largest and probably the most cricket deprived county. Adams, on a personal note, commenting on his career said that he was not looking too far ahead and that he still harbours the hope of adding to his solitary first-class appearance he made last season.
