Adams: It Takes A Lot To Get Me Riled

18 November 2009

Chris Adams has admitted his surprise at how calm he remained throughout his first season as coach – not once subjecting his players to the infamous ‘hairdryer’ treatment.

Although the man still known throughout the cricketing world as ‘Grizz’ says that players he used to compete against – such as Mark Butcher and Angus Fraser – have explained how he came about his well known sobriquet, he has told Surrey TV that it now “takes quite a lot to get me riled”, adding that “when I do, it’s usually a good one!"

“In terms of the team and their own performances, in this position I’ve been surprised about how relaxed and how calm I’ve managed to be”, Adams continued. “There’ve been a couple of occasions where I’ve got really frustrated this season at a couple of performances but having come into this job I haven’t had the old hairdryer once with the players – I’ve never felt the need to.”

In the second part of the feature length interview, Adams also speaks about his job of managing the balance between the International arena that is Brit Oval and the historic entity of Surrey County Cricket Club.

“We’ve got this fabulous ground which runs magnificently”, he said. “What an arena it absolutely is! In that essence we’ve got a very powerful organisation, more like a machine churning out the goods constantly.

“Then you’ve got the cricket club as well. It’s very traditional, historical and passionate and there a lot of people who really really do want the success back. Managing those two and their expectations of each other and the team has been very very difficult and real eye opener.”

Also in the interview, Grizz takes aim at members of the media who have attempted to classify Surrey as the Manchester City of cricket, adding: “I chuckle when I read the papers and see ‘The Manchester City of Cricket’ and read that ‘Adams has this cheque book to go and sign a player at point blank notice’. Well, it’s not the case – I have to work very hard at making sure we work within certain parameters and certain boundaries.”

To hear Adams full comments and see the rest of the Surrey TV interview, click on ‘Play Video’ in the top left hand corner of the picture at the top of this story.