Chris Adams

I have heard rumours that adams is to be sacked that isnt true is it??

There is a very shoddy post stating this on the original 606 site. It lacks substance and credibility as no source is given.

Adams is on a 3 year contract which is up at the end of this season. He may go then but I would be surprised if earlier. I think it is fair to say that opinions on him at Surrey are divided and that the jury is still out.

The jury is still out - sums it up.

Adams took a massive risk in bringing in the Hyphen to captain Surrey. To a large extent he stands or falls by the success of that move. The separate thread about Surrey's start to the season includes many relevant points. There's a series of pluses and minuses. Undoubtedly some players have come on - Tremlett, Meaker, Roy, Maynard.. Issues remain - openers, spinners... We have turned into a credible one day side and, when bowlers fit, a decent cc side.

I don't warm to the daft comments about people being "massive in the dressing room" but it's performance on the field that counts.

Making RHB captain - I don't think that it's possible to say that this has definitively been a success or a failure but I suppose the fact that the arrangement hasn't collapsed in disarray with the captain off work with stress at least says something. Is RHB moving in the right direction with his captaincy?

To my mind, Hyphen has improved as a captain over the last year (eg 5 wins out of 5 in this year's CB 40) and seems to be well liked and respected by his team mates (viz Dernbach's appreciation of him when receiving his county cap, as on Surrey tv this week).

It is also to his credit that he's volunteered for the good balance of the team to open the batting in CC matches whilst his preferred role is in the middle order. He also appears to be curbing his natural swashbuckling sytle and batting with more control and responsibility in the CC which enhances his standing as captain amongst the team and supporters.

However (I bet you saw that 'However' coming, Corporal!), he lacks that X Factor ability to do something unexpected and inspired in the way that Adam Hollioake did for us and that, say, Brearley and Dermot Reeve did for Middlesex/England and Warks respectively. You may consider it unreasonable to expect that from such a young captain. In a way it is but I want a canny and cunning skipper regardless of his age. This then takes us back to Adams who brought Hyphen in as captain when aged twenty and having only played around six CC games. Adams clearly saw considerable potential in Hyphen. His appointment may ultimately benefit us greatly but I remain concerned that we at times are paying the price for his learning on the job. Too often in CC matches we get on top but lack the nouse to finish opponents off and allow them back into the game - not all but some of the responsibility for that has to rest with Hyphen.

Again, as for Adams - my jury on Hyphen remains out ....

Guildford - thanks for the prompt on the other thread.

I've got mixed feelings too. We are too often letting cc matches get away from us through drift in the field. On the other hand there have been several CB40 matches which could easily have gone the other way where our performance in the field has not fallen apart under pressure. I think things are probably moving in the right direction.

Adams and Hyphen will rightly see the last two days of the match against Derby - and the result - as a big plus.

I think we definitely saw the benefit of our youthful and aggressive batting line up without which the win would not have been possible even with the superb bowling performance in the second innings.

I just think back to the time about 3 years ago when I had pretty much zero hope in every match in any format with people like Afzaal/Newman/Clarke flattering to decieve. I am very positive and excited about our current squad and what can be achieved in the next couple of seasons. Based on that I believe Adams has done a good job and like The Corporal says, we are moving in the right direction.

It has just been announced on the Club website that Adams' contract has been extended to 2013 'in recognition of the evident progress that the Club is making'.

Whilst progress has been made on several fronts in the last year, I consider this decision premature. Our main goal this year - as Adams himself said at the AGM in April - is promotion to Division One and we still have a considerable way to go to achieve that.

In my view, all matters should have been reviewed with a calm head at season's end in mid September. After our defeats to Middlesex and the Cambridge students a few weeks ago some were then calling for Adams' head on a stick. That was an unhelpful and overly emotional kneejerk reaction. I think today's news of a contract extension is little better, being heavily influenced by an amazing win yesterday (which might or might not lead to much greater things) and our CEO being afraid of Adams being poached by another county.

Given we don't know where we'll be at season's end and our promise has not yet resulted in anything tangible, Adams should have been left to wait on the possibility of a new contract - even at the risk of us losing him.

For the first time in a few years I look at our team and how we are performing and do believe we have made progress in the right direction. Though we still have a long way to go. It's great to see young players coming on this season hopefully they will are kick on over the next few years and improve further maybe joined by some further younger talent.

Imagine if we had got our oversea's player right and he had been a world class bowler taking wickets for us right now, we would be looking very strong!!

All in all a much happier Surrey fan.

Bloomin' heck!

Depressed - welcome back, I'm delighted you are 'a much happier Surrey fan'. Our performances and your tablets are obviously working well!

Depressed -

So, is a possible name change back on the agenda - "like cautiously optimistic Surrey fan" - or is that on hold until the end of the season!?

Guildford - I haven't checked yet but I imagine Sir Winston Churchill is turning in his grave at your glad tidings

I don't really see why the decision has been made now but I would assume that they wanted Adams to remain in charge and saw the recent win and good one-day form as a good excuse to offer it to him.

I have to say that this last sentence on the BBC match report looks nice:

"Chris Adams' Surrey, who are top of their CB40 group, have lost just one match in all competitions this season."

Speaking from beyond the grave Sir Winston Churchill pronounced:

"This is madness gone mad.... I am stunned by this act of gross stupidity"

Clearly not a paid up member of the Adams' fan club.

I was surprised by the timing but I don't think it's wholly unreasonable to extend his contract by a year at this point....

Corporal - that is amongst the more repeatable comments tonight from the late Sir Winston!

You do appreciate that Adams' contract has been extended by two years (not just one as referred to in your post above) ....

Guildford - I missed fact that it was two years... tho' I think it's not unreasonable to have given him an extension of some sort at this point....

Corporal - I did just wonder about making a joke on the wallpaper site to check whether his new contract had yet been signed but thought better of it!

Guildford - very prudent, I'd say

If I remember right, he took on a shambles of a team that had just been relegated from CC1 without a win to its name all season and, a couple of years later, has assembled a cleverly mixed set of home grown and imported talent which looks to be on the up.

If a man is to be judged on his performance in a job, an extension to his contract now does not strike me as unreasonable.

The last two hard fought wins against Warks and Northants in the CB40 do suggest there is a bit more toughness about the team....

.... But there again two horrendous collapses against Kent.....