Adams puts a twist in Proteas Women spinners

When Nonkululeko “Lefty” Mlaba smiles, Paul Adams smiles along with her. 

He wears the same look when Chloe Tryon bowls in a power play, or when Sune Luus bowls at all. “I can see it unfolding in the games, and that makes me excited. It’s good to see these things being implemented,” Adams said from Dubai. 

The “it” in question is the hours of work that Adams and the players have put in during the last few months, and the fruit that labour has borne at this year’s T20 World Cup. Although officially Cricket SA’s spin bowling “lead” — a job that entails working across the sport’s development structures — Adams was roped in as the spin coach for the World Cup.

Originally scheduled to be hosted in Bangladesh, political violence saw the tournament moved to the UAE, where the pitches are still very slow and remain conducive to spin, so Adams remains a critical part of the coaching staff. 

“I’ve worked on some technical stuff that I’d seen, it was good to have that one-on-one time... and then set them some targets, most importantly about consistency,” he said.

As a result, Mlaba is giving the ball a rip, she’s varying her pace, bowling an arm-ball and most importantly getting wickets. She is the tournament’s leading wicket taker on nine and is tied with Marizanne Kapp for the most wickets taken at a single tournament by a South African player. “Lefty has jumped on it quickly,” chirped Adams. 

The Proteas are unlocking an area of the game that previously relied on individual brilliance — most notably from former captain Dane van Niekerk who took 224 international wickets — and turned to a greater group-aligned effort that is reliant on meticulous planning. 

Skipper Laura Wolvaardt is present at the spin bowling strat sessions, deep-diving into intel put together by Adams that will allow her team not to lean so heavily on seam bowling, the Proteas’ historic strength.

“She’s a real student of the game,” Adams, who played 45 Tests, said of the Proteas captain. “We communicate a lot. I put together documents on each batter we will face and she’s very diligent in studying those. 

“Sometimes spinners and captains in other teams meet on the field for the first time and go: ‘What do we do here?’ But we’ve created a platform where she sees the plans we put into play beforehand, so it doesn’t come as a surprise to her if the field looks different. Or she even reminds the spinner about the field that needs to be in place for a particular batter.”

No bowler has taken to Adams more than Mlaba. In the 18 months between the 2023 tournament and this year’s event, she struggled with form and confidence. She took just 14 wickets in 19 matches. 

“It was about getting her lined up with energy, her action was quite closed and the ball was coming out of her hand very slowly, with nothing on it. She’s back to putting spin on it. She’s always had an arm-ball, but I’ve been showing her videos of how dangerous that arm-ball can be in the women’s game, how many wickets (that delivery) does take so it means opposition batters don’t line her up as much.”

Mlaba has allowed Wolvaardt to feel comfortable about using spin as a weapon, rather than a means to hold the game hoping that the seamers will strike. 

Nevertheless, unlike the other top sides at the competition — including England and Australia — the Proteas are still heavily dependent on their seamers, and while Adams would always push for more spin, the seamers provide crucial depth and balance for the Proteas. 

“Our batting line-up is deep and that’s because we are using a lot of all-rounders, and many are seamers; Kappy, Annerie (Dercksen) and Nadine (de Klerk). The batting depth is a big plus for us. Other teams like England have spin bowling all-rounders, so they can use more spin. Luckily we have Sune, who has developed her off-spin lately, and that is greatly benefiting our balance.”

As excited as they are to have him on board, Adams too has been energised by his coaching role. After a troubled ending to his time with the then Cape Cobras, and a tricky time at Border, Adams is feeling good about coaching again. “I’m very passionate about trying to get our spinners on the map in world cricket.

“It’s an honour to represent SA again, this time as a coach. You never know where things go in your journey as a coach, and I feel this past year has been a great journey for me.”