Final over
Adam Wheater Essex wicketkeeper/ batsman
On the Spot
Date of Birth: 13/02/1990 Marital Status: Engaged, Lauren
The Last
Bat you bought/used? It was a Gunn and Moore Purist, would have been the last one I bought – that would’ve been when I was 15. Five-wicket haul or century? That would have been against Notts in a four-day game last season, at the end of August. It was a belter of a wicket, they got the wicket wrong, it was flat and they bowled a lot of spin so it was a nice time to bat. Injury? I pulled my thigh at the start of last season, in April, but it was only for ten days. I was trying to slog in the nets. Trophy you won? In theory it would be the Division Two Essex promotion. I got my hands on the trophy behind closed doors but as I was still a Hampshire man at the time I didn’t really want to be front row, chucking champagne everywhere.
The Jury’s Out
Tea or Coffee? Coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon. I need the coffee to get me going in the morning, especially this time of year, I wouldn’t have a morning without a coffee! Caribbean with the missus or Magaluf with the lads? It’s got to be Magaluf with the lads and hope that the missus doesn’t read this! Red or white wine? Red for me. I’m not sure why, I think I saw my old man drinking it and I saw my mum drinking white, so I thought I’d better go on the man’s side. 50-over, T20 or County Championship? The younger I was, the more I preferred red-ball cricket, weirdly, and the older I get I am starting to prefer the 50over and T20 cricket more.
Time added on
Who did you support as a boy? Football-wise it was West Ham, but for cricket I didn’t really understand all the county stuff, so I just used to support players that played for England, and Essex. Best coach you ever worked with? There was a guy called Scott Meuleman in Perth. He worked me hard and we just got on, and some of the things he suggested just clicked, which I hadn’t had for a little while. The most nervous when next into bat? I’ve not been around the Essex dressing room much for a while, but Liam Dawson is a nervous watcher, he can’t sit still. One rule you could change? It’s kind of being played with now, but I believe the power of the toss can’t be decided on a coin. I would get a bowling machine at 100mph, straight up, and you get the best catcher in each team and go until one drops it. Three words to describe yourself? Argumentative, simple, opinionated Which TV pundit makes you cringe and which do you really listen to? Charles Colville makes me cringe – some of the guys don’t agree with what he said. But Rob Key I respect; I think he can still remember how tough it is to play the game at times. Do you have any superstitions? I won’t watch the two wickets before, but I’ll always watch when I’m next in. I find it draining to watch too much cricket when the pressure is on. Hobbies? One of them is beating Tom Westley at squash – he likes to think I don’t have the better of him, but he’s kidding himself. And at the moment another is going for coffee with Nick Browne after training. Dinner party? At the moment it would be Donald Trump. Then maybe David Beckham and Barack Obama, as well.
And finally:
Worst dressed? Dan Lawrence, by a country mile. He wears elastic jeans with flip flops and wears poor shirts just because they’ve got a Ralph Lauren badge on them. He’s just generally horrendous but always thinks he’s the best dressed.