Quantcast

Zampa sticks with Plan A ahead of summer opener

Keen to put his World Cup disappointment behind him, leg-spinner Adam Zampa returns to action for the South Australia Redbacks on Tuesday

Adam Zampa will maintain faith in his craft as he prepares for his first game of the Australian domestic summer eager to put the disappointment of the World Cup behind him.

Zampa played four of Australia's 10 World Cup fixtures earlier this year, and while he accepted being left out of the side when Australia opted for four quicks against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, being dropped for veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon for the final four fixtures of the tournament, including the semi-final against England, hurt.

"I suppose the way the World Cup went people expected the leg-spinners to have a different tournament to what they did," Zampa said today on the eve of South Australia's Marsh One-Day Cup clash with Queensland in Brisbane.

"The weather didn't help that, the wickets weren't as dry as we expected them to be.

"But, yeah, personally it didn't go the way I felt it should."

Zampa claimed five wickets in his four World Cup matches with an economy rate of 7.15. That came after he'd been a key figure for the one-day side in the lead-up to the tournament, finishing behind only Pat Cummins among Australian wicket-takers during the tour of India earlier this year.

Zampa on song in 2018 one-day comp

Having made a stunning start to his ODI career – he was the top ODI wicket-taker in 2016 – Zampa was in and out of the side for the following 18 months before forcing his way back in the lead-up to the World Cup.

He was the leading slow-bowler in last summer's one-day competition with 12 wickets in six games and enters this year's tournament with the confidence to trust in his own game and stick with his plans.

"I'm not going to change too much," he said. "I've had a really good few years in one-day cricket, particularly at the domestic level.

"I'm pretty consistent, so I'm going to keep it pretty simple and do what I've always done, pretty much."

Match wrap: Big guns fire as the Bulls chase down 306

It promises to be tough introduction to the domestic season as the Redbacks come up against a powerful Queensland batting line-up fresh off a win against NSW on Sunday at the same Allan Border Field venue.

"We've spoken about adapting, we think if it's a used wicket the scores might be a bit lower over the next few days," Zampa said.

"We know Queensland go hard and they're going to keep coming hard with the bat so it's about bowling really defensively, and trying to take wickets throughout the middle is really important.

Labuschagne impresses in Bulls' opener

"It's important to take wickets early against Queensland. They've got dangerous guys throughout."

In the Redbacks' favour will be the form of World Cup gloveman Alex Carey, who continued his impressive tournament form in a county stint for Sussex in the UK.

"He's got some presence at the moment, Kezza," Zampa said of his state teammate.

"The way he's playing with the bat, the way he's kept for the last few years too, he's one of those guys who keeps getting better and better."