An energetic and competitive legspinner, Adam Zampa emerged in Australia's limited-overs squads in 2016 after a successful summer for South Australia and the Melbourne Stars. In T20, especially, he has proven a hard man to get away, with subtle changes of pace and variations, including a wrong'un and straight ball making up for a lack of prodigious turn. He's a (mullet-wearing) colourful character off the field, but in contrast, his bowling, focusing on control, is clinical.

He took five wickets at an economy of 6.27 in the 2016 T20 World Cup, and a six-for in the IPL that followed, but it took Zampa a while to cement his place in the Australian ODI and T20I teams.

He finally became an Australia regular in 2019, playing every game on the successful tours of India and the UAE and bedding down his place for that year's World Cup squad. He became their leading white-ball spinner and was a key figure in Australia's T20 World Cup triumph in 2021, finishing second on the wickets chart with 13 from seven games at an economy of 5.81.

His white-ball success has curbed his opportunities at first-class level. Zampa's father, Darren, played for New South Wales Country and Zampa also began his career in his home state, debuting for New South Wales in 2012-13 before moving to South Australia the following year. He returned to Sydney for the 2020-2021 season in the hope of more first-class opportunities.