Cape Town - Former Proteas spinner Paul Adams has been appointed as the semi-professional coach at WP Cricket.
This was confirmed by the Cape union on Friday.
Adams succeeds Salieg Nackerdien, who was recently appointed as assistant coach of the Proteas women’s team. Adams’ appointment to mentor the senior provincial team means a resurrection of his career as first-class coach after a season spent at the helm of the WP Academy and WP under-19 team.
The 41-year-old is an experienced first-class coach, who presided over the Cape Cobras during a golden period which yielded five trophies.
He spent more than 18 months as coach of the provincial academy and the Western Province under-19 team and said the exposure to that environment taught him the importance of the pipeline structures to develop and nurture new talent.
It was also a period of reflection to work on his own leadership qualities.
“I was quite excited when I got the call from Nabeal Dien, chief executive officer of the WPCA, that I had been appointed,” Adams said via a press statement.
“I see my role at senior provincial level as one in which I have to learn what each player’s individual goals are, to help nurture a team culture and to get each player to perform at optimum level.”
Adams added that talent alone would not be enough to bring trophies.
“You need to tick other boxes like the motivation of the squad, unlocking the potential of every player, understanding what drives them and having the right work ethic,” he added.
“I am excited about the talent,” he said, while adding that a process-driven approach would be important to get Western Province into the winner’s circle again.
Adams represented South Africa in 45 Tests which yielded 134 wickets. He also played 24 One-Day Internationals for the Proteas, including the Cricket World Cup in 1996.
Reflecting on the senior provincial team, Adams said there was a good balance between youth and experience in the squad.
The squad boasts the presence of exciting young fast bowlers including Thando Ntini, son of former Proteas fast bowler Makhaya, and Michael Cohen, who has already made the step up on one or two occasions.
There is experience in the squad as well, with Andre Malan from North West and Qaasim Adams being two senior players who can catapult the team to new heights.
“The WPCA is privileged to have a vastly experienced coach like Paul available to work with a squad full of young talent. We believe he possesses the track record and knowledge on how to propel Western Province to a trophy-hugging unit again,” said Dien.