Mark Adair ready to take on mantle for Ireland after frustrating 2020

NICK FRIEND: When Mark Adair returned to action after ankle surgery, he was stepping out to face England at the Ageas Bowl, 13 months after a memorable Test debut at Lord's

Mark Adair underwent ankle reconstruction surgery at the start of the year and only missed two games of cricket.

Perhaps, that quirk sums up the peculiarities of 2020 as well as any. Adair reckons he was among the final elective procedure patients in the United Kingdom before the first phase of lockdown kicked in.

And yet, when he returned to action months later, he was stepping out to face England at the Ageas Bowl. The ground was empty, the series over as a bilateral contest – albeit with World Cup Super League points to play for – but by the time dusk had turned to darkness, Ireland were celebrating a remarkable victory.

“You know what, when I got home I was asked what the atmosphere was like,” he says. “Towards the end of that game there was no one there, but I still felt like it was quite a big atmosphere – it was quite intense. I was getting vibes from our camp. It did feel like there was an atmosphere there.”

Having been bowled out cheaply in the first two matches when batting first, a change of tack brought about a shift in fortunes. England reached 328 before being dismissed, but Paul Stirling and captain Andrew Balbirnie both struck hundreds to crown a famous win.

“Balbo and Stirlo handled it and did a serious job and – I think he won’t mind me saying it – but when Balbo got out, he was furious,” he adds. “He came in and had a few words with himself, but after that he was back in for the team because there was still a game of cricket to be won.

“I’m not sure if it was ever in our hands, but it was a game where we were looking for a result and it was the first game that we had done that.”

It was the understandable highlight of an otherwise unusual year – along with the opportunity to hand a cap to his brother, Ross, a former professional rugby player, on his Northern Knights debut.

^{Mark Adair returned from injury to face England at the Ageas Bowl}

But as the coronavirus pandemic ravaged the sporting calendar, Ireland saw summer clashes against Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand fall by the wayside, before the T20 World Cup was postponed. Talks of a winter series against Scotland also came to nothing.

By then, so much had changed that Adair hardly blinked in October when he remembered that he should have been in Australia, taking part in a global tournament for which Ireland had qualified 12 months earlier in Abu Dhabi.

“I didn’t realise that the World Cup was meant to be going on until I saw a tweet,” he says. “I never gave it a second thought that we could’ve been in Australia.”

A month earlier, his Northern Knights side had a T20 fixture against Munster Reds cancelled over concerns around Covid-19, which were indirectly linked to the Bob Willis Trophy match between Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire – the only game in the English summer to be called off because of the impact of the pandemic.

With a Northamptonshire player recording a positive test, there were worries that Stirling – who was playing in the T20 Blast for the county but had taken advantage of a break in the fixture list to return home to Belfast – might have come into contact with players from both clubs.

He was not included in Knights’ squad for their match against Munster but had socialised with teammates beforehand. Because three of the flatmates of the player who tested positive were part of Northamptonshire’s T20 setup alongside Stirling, it was decided that those players would have to test negative before Adair and his teammates could set off.

But, when all three test results did not come back in time for Knights to make their lengthy journey to Cork with the confidence that their game would go ahead, the game was cancelled as the players waited in a carpark.

It was an unusual episode – and given the complexity of the season, it was a surprise that more similar cases did not transpire.

The summer of Sky Cricket, respected and revered

Stirling was one of three Irish players taking part in the Blast as an overseas player, with 2020 the first year in which international cricketers from Ireland – on the back of their ascent to Test status – would be unable to count as locals in the county game.

Balrbirnie and opener Gareth Delany completed the trio, at Glamorgan and Leicestershire respectively. Importantly, they both fared well. Former Ireland batsman Niall O’Brien, who represents the pair as their agent, told The Cricketer in September: “If the lads had come over and not performed, then it might have impacted not only on their opportunities next year, but maybe other Irish players.”

Adair concurs; he made his first-class debut as a teenager in 2015 for Warwickshire. “I think it is good for us individually because teams almost have more confidence in Irish players,” he says.

“They then go: ‘Oh, Gareth Delany has been whacking it around for Leicestershire, let’s go and watch him play for Ireland.’

“If Harry Tector or James McCollum go well, eyes turn and heads turn. It gives those guys a better audience, it can be beneficial for us personally and it also gives those guys experiences playing better cricket.”

The circumstances of the post-pandemic world may well mean that opportunities for Irish players as overseas options continue to exist, and not simply because county finances will almost certainly be down on their 2019 levels.

Clubs will be able to field two overseas players in each format, with the Kolpak loophole closing at the end of the government’s transition period away from the European Union.

Having spent his formative years as a professional at Edgbaston, would it appeal to Adair?

“If I get back over across the water, I’d love to play,” he says. “I was in England from 18 to 21 and I really enjoyed it. I was pretty naïve – I don’t know how to describe it.

“I got unlucky with injuries, but I didn’t come back from them the way I wanted to. Obviously, I’d love another opportunity, but I think that’s not going to come from me not putting in the hard work and doing well for Ireland. Obviously, my focus is on Irish cricket and anything that comes along with that is a bonus.”

^{Adair dismissed Joe Root twice on his Test debut in 2019}

Still only 24 years of age, Adair finds himself at the centre of a new generation. For all their excellence over many years, stalwarts like Tim Murtagh, Gary Wilson and William Porterfield cannot go on forever.

Despite the roadblock of a global pandemic, it remains an exciting time to be an Ireland cricketer: full ICC members since 2017, part of the World Cup Super League and with the T20 World Cup rearranged for 2021.

This summer gave notice to the ability of South Africa-born allrounder Curtis Campher, while Delany – just 23 – announced himself onto the Blast scene with two half centuries in his first four games.

“It’s class seeing guys you grew up with playing and doing well and making an impact,” Adair adds. “What we talk about now is making an impact so we can win games of cricket for Ireland, and it’s coming through and these guys are doing it and it’s good to see.”

He points as well to off-spinner Andy McBrine, now 27 years of age, but coming into his own on the international stage after serving his time patiently as a squad member.

“He had an underrated series, but he has come on and just kept going,” he says. “But it’s fitting: he’s one of those guys that has been in my shoes or the young guys’ shoes for years, and it’s nice to see that the old guard have passed onto him what he’s now passing on to us.

“Yes, it’s exciting that there’s young guys coming through but for me it’s nice to see guys getting established because they’ve had to wait so long. He has probably got over 150 caps on the bench – he’s spent a lot of time around the squad. It’s nice to see him enjoy himself and make an impact.”

^{Paul Stirling was one of three Irishmen to feature in this year's T20 Blast}

In a sense, McBrine’s recent international success represents the attitude instilled in a new era of young Irish players: when Balbirnie fell with 50 runs still needed for victory at the Ageas Bowl, it was 21-year-old Harry Tector who strode to the crease rather than Kevin O’Brien; in March, when a tie against Afghanistan led to a super over, it was Tector once more who was sent out at No.3; at Lord’s last year, Adair starred on his Test debut, taking six wickets – including Joe Root twice.

“You’re given these opportunities because the coaching staff have confidence in you,” he says. In January, Adair was given the responsibility of closing out an ODI against West Indies, with Kieron Pollard’s men requiring five runs to win going into the last over. But after fumbling two runout chances that would have clinched a win, Sheldon Cottrell hit the penultimate ball for six.

"The next day if someone asked me to bowl the last over in the same game I would’ve said: ‘Yes, absolutely no problem,’” he reflects.

“I think that’s the way we’re being encouraged to be, and it is a case of whenever you get punched you just keep getting back up and it’s going to be your day. The more you experience that, then the more you know what to do when the time comes around again.

“I think the way that they’re making guys now, they want to be involved. They want to be the guy that hits the winning runs or bowls the final over.”

And with that in mind, the wait for international cricket can hardly end soon enough. Ireland are due in Abu Dhabi in January to face Afghanistan.

After three ODIs in nine months, the return will come as welcome relief, especially as the current uncertainty continues.

“The last international we played was England away,” Adair adds. “That puts it in perspective; we need to be playing more games, we need to be playing as much as we can going forward.”

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