Adams is the reason Cobras need not fear Tahir
PORT ELIZABETH: The Currie Cup may not be won in July, but the Sunfoil Series trophy certainly is not held aloft in December either. It certainly appeared that way for the Cape Cobras at the end of last year when they were almost 25 points clear heading into the new year.
However, having enjoyed a bye over the festive period, the Cobras return to action tomorrow against the Highveld Lions knowing that a victory is of paramount importance if they wish to claim South Africa’s premier first-class competition for the third time in four seasons.
Coach Paul Adams’s team, who have four wins from six matches and remain undefeated, have had their lead at the top of the table cut to a mere 5.2 points. The Warriors are currently in second place, but are not in action this weekend.
But it is not only the Eastern Cape side that are hunting down the Cobras. Despite losing two games already, the Lions are still in with a realistic chance of overhauling their hosts, especially as they have played a game fewer due to their early-season Champions League Twenty20 commitments. They would also do the rest of the teams in the competition a huge favour if they topple the Cobras.
The visitors will depend greatly on nationally contracted leg-spinner Imran Tahir to achieve this objective at Newlands. Tahir has returned to domestic cricket determined to prove that he is far better than the bowler who embarrassingly conceded a mountain of runs in the second Test against Australia at Newlands.
There were encouraging signs of a return to form for the Proteas discard when he claimed a 12-wicket haul against the Dolphins in Durban last week. It certainly caught the attention of the national selectors again, with a view to possibly including him in the teams for the threematch Test series against his country of birth, Pakistan, next month.
The Cobras should not fear Tahir, though. They have traditionally played the leg-spinner well before, especially when he was still at the Titans and Dolphins. Adams, also a former Proteas Test spinner, is well versed in Tahir’s variations.
He was a Cricket South Africa spin consultant until last year, and a big part of his job specification was to work with Tahir. A major part of Adams’s brief was to fix Tahir’s run-up problem after it was discovered that the 33year-old regularly runs on the pitch during his followthrough.
It cannot be a mere coincidence that, since Adams has stopped working with Tahir due to his Cobras commitments, the leg-spinner has suffered a dramatic loss of form.
“He’s always been a good performer in domestic cricket and he’s got his back up at the moment,” Adams said on the CSA website yesterday. “He also wants to prove a lot of things. It was a big game for him last week, picking up all those wickets, but we are mentally refreshed and getting back into things after our break.”
The Cobras coach will be without his national Test players, but will still be able to field a formidable side. Veteran seamer Johann Louw will again lead the attack in the absence of Vernon Philander and Rory Kleinveldt. He has been in spectacular form recently, with the right-arm medium-fast bowler claiming 18 wickets in his previous two matches.