APPRENCTICE TO THE GOAT
NSW teams Zampa with Test ace Lyon
ADAM Zampa is expected to push his case for a Test debut after signing to return to play for NSW after seven seasons with South Australia.
The Australian ODI and T20 leg-spinner fills the gap left in the Blues squad when veteran Steve O’Keefe’s contract was not renewed.
Zampa, 28, joins Test spinner Nathan Lyon at NSW and is likely to get the Sheffield Shield action he needs to make his Test claims, especially while Lyon is away frequently on Test duty.
In the past two seasons he played just three shield games for SA. Zampa, who grew up playing cricket on the NSW South Coast, has taken 108 international wickets for Australia across 55 ODIs and 30 T20 matches.
“I’m looking forward to testing myself in Shield cricket with a team of this calibre and I’m hoping to get the opportunity of playing with Nathan Lyon down the track,” said Zampa.
Zampa made his first class debut for the Blues in 2012, playing three Sheffield Shield matches before moving to South Australia where he claimed 95 shield wickets and 51 one-day wickets for the Redbacks.
“The thing I’m looking forward to the most is playing with some guys that I was really close with when I was a rookie at NSW. The likes of Sean Abbott, Dan Hughes and Harry Conway,” Zampa said.
Zampa is one of seven Blues contracted with Cricket Australia joining Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc and David Warner.
“I love pushing guys around me to get better and I think NSW cricket teams have always been a great environment for this.”