New-Zealand-Team. (Photo by Matt Roberts-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)
Former all-rounder Andre Adams has been appointed as the bowling coach of New Zealand for their upcoming five-match T20I series against Pakistan at home. He will be filling in temporarily for Shane Jurgesen, who stepped down from the position after the 2023 World Cup.
Adams has the experience of working with the Australian national team in the past. He will start his tenure as the bowling coach of the Blackcaps on Wednesday, January 10, in Auckland. The 48-year-old played one Test, 42 ODIs, and four T20Is for New Zealand between 2001-2007. He also played in the English county circuit for teams like Nottinghamshire, Hampshire and Essex, before calling time on his playing career in 2015.
After retiring as a cricketer, Adams took up coaching. He was appointed as the bowling coach of New South Wales and received plaudits for bringing Mitchell Starc back to form in 2019. Adams also played an important role in helping Kiwi speedster Lockie Ferguson hone his skills during his time with the Auckland side. Adams also served as the bowling coach of the Big Bash League (BBL) team – Sydney Sixers.
In September-October last year, Adams was appointed the bowling coach of the New Zealand women’s team on their limited-overs tour of South Africa.
Meanwhile, Chris Donaldson, the New Zealand strength and conditioning coach and Simon Insley, the team performance manager have been given breaks during the T20I assignment versus Pakistan. Matt Long, Cricket Wellington’s head of athlete development and Dave Meiring, Central Districts’ high performance manager will take up the role in place of Donaldson and Insley during the series.
The first T20I is set to be played on Friday, January 12, in Auckland before which the action will shift to Hamilton and Dunedin for the second and third ones respectively. The last two games will be played in Christchurch.
Pakistan are coming off a disappointing 0-3 Test series loss against Australia. New Zealand, on the other hand, drew a three-match T20I series 1-1 against Bangladesh at home.