A Gogga with X-factor

INLSA

GOING LOCAL: New Cape Cobras coach Paul Adams and captain Justin Ontong take questions from the media yesterday. Its part of our function as an organisation to use local talent and we are excited about how the team will respond under their guidance, said Western Cape Cricket vice-president Beresford Williams. Photo: Courtney Africa

Zaahier Adams

AGE is nothing but a number. At least, that’s how the Cape Cobras feel about appointing Paul “Gogga” Adams as the third coach in the eight-year history of the Western Cape cricket franchise.

Adams, 35, officially replaced Richard Pybus yesterday. “There is a risk in going for a relatively young coach, but Gogga has that X-factor and we have a great squad which we believe can keep up the good performances of five trophies in the last four years,” Cobras chief executive André Odendaal said yesterday at Newlands.

“It is an opportunity, after losing someone with Richard’s experience, to relook at where we are. We’re just very excited about this appointment ... this is a guy who has been here for 17 years. He’s young, yet been in the system for a long time. He is the face of the future and represents what we stand for as a brand.”

It’s ironic that Adams’s age is under scrutiny again. The former chinaman slow bowler faced the same type of introspection when he made his Test debut for the Proteas aged just 18 against England at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth back in 1995.

Adams is still the youngest South African to play Test cricket, and despite not fully fulfilling his immense early promise – more due to poor management than ability – he remains the most successful Proteas Test spinner post-isolation with 134 wickets.

It is this positive attitude that Odendaal hopes Adams will bring to the job. Hopefully his gregarious, enthusiastic and ever-smiling public face will not only win over a team that was very much divided last year, but also the Cobras fans.

“He’s always grabbed his opportunities in the past, has a wonderful personality, and a style of leadership that looks for solutions. We really back Gogga ... we haven’t appointed him to fail,” Odendaal said.

“Those days of appointing people to positions just to serve our own purposes are no longer there. We want Paul and the team he will work with to go out and (succeed) and hopefully help South Africa, too.”

Adams was slightly nervous yesterday at the beginning of the announcement, stumbling through his first couple of sentences of a prepared statement without the usual confidence that he has become known for during his time as a cricket analyst and commentator at SuperSport over the last couple of years. The mischievous laugh was also noticeably missing throughout the announcement yesterday. But the longer he sat in the chair, the more comfortable he became, as if to illustrate that it could be a similar pattern with the actual job.

One clear message, though, that Adams sent out yesterday is that there is nobody more passionate than him in helping to restore the Cobras’ image in the eyes of paying public after last year’s shenanigans.

“I’ve been part of the Cobras’ structures both as a player and coach for many seasons and I have a good understanding of what is needed to have the players performing to the best of their ability,” Adams said.

“I have a responsibility to provide an environment in which the players will thrive and keep growing. I know people have questioned my transition from a player to head coach of the Cape Cobras, but I’ve been part of the family for 17 years.

“We’ve reached a stage where we want to drive the franchise into a new era and, with the support and structures that have been put in place, I feel we can take the Cobras to a new level.

“Winning is vitally important and we must ensure that Cobras start winning championships again.”

Newly installed Cobras captain Justin Ontong, who will have Proteas Twenty20 wicket-keeper Dane Vilas as his deputy this season, also quashed talk that Adams will not have the respect of the Cobras dressingroom, especially the senior players.

“There will be no problem for the players co-operating with Paul,” Ontong said. “We have immense respect for him and what he achieved as a player.

“We have seen how Paul has gathered vast knowledge as a coach over the last five years and we have many experienced players who will help when needed and collectively we see every chance of the team moving to a higher level.”

Ontong was also confident that he was better equipped to lead the Cobras than back when he was initially handed the reins back in 2008-09.

Meanwhile, Western Province Amateur coach Salieg Nackerdien will move up a rank to be Adams’s technical assistant, while last season’s assistant coach, Faiek Davids, will replace Nackerdien at WP for the season ahead.