Jimmy Adams, a talented opening batsman and brilliant fielder, has pressed for higher honours in recent years, but without success. His promise was evident from an early age, as he was named Hampshire Young Player of the Year for 1998 and made his debut for Hampshire in 2002 having represented England at Under-15s and Under-19s level.

His maiden first-class hundred was made for Loughborough University, whom he captained, in 2003. He was part of Hampshire's successful 2005 squad which lifted the C&G Trophy and finished second in Division One of the County Championship. In 2006, he anchored Hampshire's surprise win over Yorkshire with a fine unbeaten 168, to chase down 404 at Headingley and remained a skilful batsman in the longer formats.

He came into his own as a Twenty20 batsman in 2010 when, at the age of 29, he led Hampshire's charge to the Friends Provident t20 title, becoming the first batsman to score 600 runs in a domestic Twenty20 season and finishing as the competition's highest run-scorer. In addition to his prolific T20 form he scored 1351 runs at 48.25 in the Championship. It was enough to earn him selection for England's performance squad to Australia as well as a deal to play in New Zealand's domestic T20 competition with Auckland Aces, the season's eventual champions. Further honours were to follow when he was picked for the England Lions squad that toured the Caribbean in the winter and again to face Sri Lanka in 2011, and then Auckland's squad for the Champions League T20 in India. Having led Hampshire towards the end of the 2011 season, which saw them relegated to the County Championship's second division, he was appointed full-time captain for 2012.
Will Luke