Elucidating the mystery that is Adam Zampa

Born in Shellharbour, New South Wales in 1992 about 750 km shy of his idol’s hometown, Adam Zampa has been among those rare leg spinners that Australia has produced in the post Warne era. He is the new youngster on the block and has been having a dream few months. Having made his international debut in the Trans-Tasmanian Chapell Hadlee Trophy on February 6th, Zampa has quickly risen to overtake Nathan Lyon to become the only preferred Australian spinner in the limited overs format.

Zampa shares an eerily similar action to Shane Warne with the signature swing of the arms, comfortably walking into his bowling stride and delivering with complete precision and control. Although not a big turner of the ball, Zampa is an uncanny customer who deceives the batsman with his slow pace and carry from the wicket. The psychological factor plays a huge role in his effectiveness. Just by slowing the game up with his grip and overspin, he creates doubts in the batsman’s minds who look for a way to bail out. A leg spinner’s reputation makes the batsman notch up a gear which brings his downfall. Although his variations aren’t too profound, the unpredictability, accuracy and slowness do the batsmen in.

He may not look a handful at first site, but the 23-year-old has had an extremely impressive record in T20Is. He is Australia’s second highest wicket-taker in the World T20. His economy rate of 6.2 is the best among all the Australian bowlers, and his career economy rate in T20s sits at just above 7.1, with only Brad Hogg doing better than him, but picking half the number of wickets! Highly rated by former Test leggie Kerry O’Keefe, Zampa took 12 wickets in five first-class matches in his debut season in 2012, after picking up a contract much before in 2010 with the Redbacks he also played three games in the Ryobi Cup, taking three wickets and scoring 66 from 51 balls against Queensland, giving first indications of his all round prowess.

He first came on the radar for national selection as part of the Under-19 World Cup in 2010. He has been regular in his state sides since then but hasn’t shared the same success and recognition in the longer format with an average of over 50. This probably is due to the passive approach by the batsmen that makes it difficult for him to get the dismissals since Zampa lacks proficiency in turning the ball. However, his rise to the big stage has been astonishing, to say the least.

His selection to the Aussie squad came as a surprise to many, but he has repaid the faith of the selectors with his consistent and miserly performances in the matches he has played, relishing on Indian wickets. Don’t be fooled by his batting average in T20s though, because this bloke can also give it a tonk and has a healthy average of over 25 in context in both List A and first-class matches, which merits for a definite place in the side. However, sky’s the limit for the spinner, as he has just started off and will definitely get better from here. There is nothing short of excitement from the Australian supporters for this ‘unknown’ spinner and he will definitely be a force for Australia in limited overs cricket especially in the sub-continent, and is well on his way to attracting some fan following. He will feature for the Rising Pune Super Giants in the IPL and that definitely will be an interesting phase in Adam Zampa’s career.

Written by Yash Gupta

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