Adrian Aymes
Encyclopedia
Adrian Nigel 'Adi' Aymes (born 4 June 1964 in Southampton
, England
) was a first-class
cricket
er for Hampshire
, where he was a right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper
for fifteen years, winning the Natwest Trophy in 1991. His interest in both football
and cricket saw him play the former in his youth, making appearances for Bristol Rovers
reserves and becoming assistant-manager of Lymington Town
before becoming a full-time cricketer aged 24.
On retiring from first-class cricket, he returned to football, becoming joint manager of Fleet Town
. He is currently the fitness coach and general manager of Havant and Waterlooville.
, Hursley Park
, aged 11. Hampshire
turned Aymes down as a schoolboy, but Aymes practised hard, and was still in the Hursley Park side when they competed in the National Village Championship final nine years later at Lord's
in 1984. Hampshire were unable to ignore his heavy run-scoring any longer, and Aymes made a successful debut for Hampshire Second XI against Middlesex
Second XI in August 1985. He had a hand in five dismissals (four catches and one stumping), and scoring 53 run
s not out
in the second innings. He became a Second XI regular for the 1986 season
, and also competed in the Warwick Under-25 Competition. Between 1985 and 1990, Aymes played 116 matches for the Second XI, scoring 2920 runs which included 8 half-centuries and 3 centuries (although his highest score was only 105 not out).
Aymes' first-class debut was against Surrey
in June 1987, deputising for Bobby Parks
. He scored 58 runs in the first innings and took one catch. He also made his debut in the List A game against Derbyshire
, played in the middle of the first-class fixture, taking two catches and effecting one stumping. He deputised for two matches in the 1988 season, and one in the 1989 before finally displacing Parks in August 1990.
in 1990. He continued to play first-class cricket extensively for the next twelve years.
He is considered by the Hampshire Cricket Society to be the best wicket-keeper to wear the gloves regularly. Although Bobby Parks made the most dismissals (700), and Neil McCorkell
(between 1932–1951) scored the most runs (15,834, including the five highest scores by a Hampshire 'keeper), Aymes is considered to combine the two skills to the greatest effect. McCorkell passed the benchmark '1000 runs in a season' 9 times, a feat Aymes failed to match. This is in part due to Aymes only averaging 27 innings per season compared with McCorkell's 46. Only 12 players have a higher Hampshire batting average
than Aymes' 31.22, undoubtably helped by Aymes remaining undefeated
in 25% of his visits to the crease.
Aymes was a technically-correct batsman who prided himself on not giving his wicket away, and was often required to shore up batting inadequacies in the side. Hampshire struggled in their two seasons in Division 1
(in 2000 and 2000); this unfortunately coincided with Aymes' hand and knee injuries. Aymes was regarded as the best wicket-keeper in the County Championship, being equally adept at standing back to the West Indies fast
bowler Malcolm Marshall
and standing up to the leg spin
of Shane Warne
. It was in standing up to his medium pace bowlers that brought the downfall of David Ward
in the 1991 Natwest Trophy Final, which turned the fate of the match. Aymes was also unlucky not to participate in the 1998–99 tour of Australia
after a slight dip of form towards the end of the season.
His benefit
year in 2000 raised £174,995, and included the first cricket match of the new millennium in Hambledon
, the site of the first cricket club
.
Throughout 2002 he suffered with a knee injury, which only allowed him to play 5 matches. With the up-and-coming Nic Pothas
taking his place, he ended his Hampshire contract with one year still to serve, and retired from professional cricket.
Southern Premier League. Alan Jones, the Hursley Chairman said, "We’re delighted to have Adi back with us. His ability and sheer enthusiasm for the game will give everyone at the club a boost." Aymes, who last played for Hursley Park in 1989, marked his return to recreational cricket with 119 in a record club league opening-partnership of 231 with Roman Prendergast.
As a favour to chairman Martin Griffiths (who was in charge of Aymes' benefit committee in 2000), he became joint manager of football side Fleet Town
in 2002–03 alongside Mark Dennis
, steering them away from near-certain relegation, and winning the Russell Cotes Cup. It was even necessary for Aymes to put on his boots and play in goal for Fleet. When goalkeeper Tyrone King fell awkwardly and went to hospital, Aymes played in goal for the second half. He let in two goals as Fleet lost to Sittingbourne 3–0. After Dennis left the club to become Director of Football at Eastleigh Town
in June 2003, Aymes followed him out of Fleet saying it was "geographically not possible" to stay on in charge at Calthorpe Park for another season. On joining Havant and Waterlooville as fitness coach during the 2005–06 season he had a "tremendous impact on the stamina of the players", and took on the responsibilities of the club manager the following year.
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) was a first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er for Hampshire
Hampshire County Cricket Club
Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...
, where he was a right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper
Wicket-keeper
The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike...
for fifteen years, winning the Natwest Trophy in 1991. His interest in both football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
and cricket saw him play the former in his youth, making appearances for Bristol Rovers
Bristol Rovers F.C.
Bristol Rovers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Bristol, that competes in Football League Two. The team plays its home matches at the Memorial Stadium, in the Horfield area of the city....
reserves and becoming assistant-manager of Lymington Town
Lymington Town F.C.
Lymington Town F.C. is a football club based in Lymington, England. Known as "The Linnets" they were originally founded in 1876 and played in the Hampshire League for many years.-History:...
before becoming a full-time cricketer aged 24.
On retiring from first-class cricket, he returned to football, becoming joint manager of Fleet Town
Fleet Town F.C.
Fleet Town Football Club are a semi-professional football club based in Fleet, Hampshire, England. They were established in 1890 and joined the Athenian League in 1979. In 2004, they joined the Isthmian League First Division, were moved into the Southern League Division One South & West in 2007,...
. He is currently the fitness coach and general manager of Havant and Waterlooville.
Early career
Aymes attended Bellemoor School, and began playing for his local village sideVillage cricket
Village cricket is a term, sometimes pejorative, given to the playing of cricket in rural villages in England. Many villages have their own teams that play at varying levels of the English cricket pyramid....
, Hursley Park
Hursley
Hursley is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England with a population of around 800 in 2005. It is located roughly mid-way between Romsey and Winchester on the A3090...
, aged 11. Hampshire
Hampshire County Cricket Club
Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...
turned Aymes down as a schoolboy, but Aymes practised hard, and was still in the Hursley Park side when they competed in the National Village Championship final nine years later at Lord's
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
in 1984. Hampshire were unable to ignore his heavy run-scoring any longer, and Aymes made a successful debut for Hampshire Second XI against Middlesex
Middlesex County Cricket Club
Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the...
Second XI in August 1985. He had a hand in five dismissals (four catches and one stumping), and scoring 53 run
Run (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a run is the basic unit of scoring. Runs are scored by a batsman, and the aggregate of the scores of a team's batsmen constitutes the team's score. A batsman scoring 50 or 100 runs , or any higher multiple of 50 runs, is considered a particular achievement...
s not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
in the second innings. He became a Second XI regular for the 1986 season
Second XI Championship
The Second XI Championship is a season-long cricket competition in England that is competed for by the reserve teams of those county cricket clubs that have first-class status...
, and also competed in the Warwick Under-25 Competition. Between 1985 and 1990, Aymes played 116 matches for the Second XI, scoring 2920 runs which included 8 half-centuries and 3 centuries (although his highest score was only 105 not out).
Aymes' first-class debut was against Surrey
Surrey County Cricket Club
Surrey County Cricket Club is one of the 18 professional county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Surrey. Its limited overs team is called the Surrey Lions...
in June 1987, deputising for Bobby Parks
Bobby Parks (cricketer)
Robert James Parks is a former English cricketer who played for Hampshire and Kent. He is the grandson of Jim Parks senior and son of Jim Parks junior. A wicketkeeper, Parks kept wicket for England during a Test against New Zealand at Lord's in 1986 as a substitute for Bruce French...
. He scored 58 runs in the first innings and took one catch. He also made his debut in the List A game against Derbyshire
Derbyshire County Cricket Club
Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...
, played in the middle of the first-class fixture, taking two catches and effecting one stumping. He deputised for two matches in the 1988 season, and one in the 1989 before finally displacing Parks in August 1990.
First-class career
Having previously made Second XI Championship appearances since his debut in 1985 (playing most extensively between 1986 and 1990) he broke into first-class cricket with sporadic appearances from August 1990, including a match against a team of Sri Lankans during a tour of EnglandSri Lankan cricket team in England in 1990
The Sri Lanka national cricket team toured England in the 1990 season to play six first-class matches and two limited overs matches against county teams.The first-class fixtures were against:* Glamorgan at Eugene Cross Park, Ebbw Vale...
in 1990. He continued to play first-class cricket extensively for the next twelve years.
He is considered by the Hampshire Cricket Society to be the best wicket-keeper to wear the gloves regularly. Although Bobby Parks made the most dismissals (700), and Neil McCorkell
Neil McCorkell
Neil Thomas McCorkell is a former wicketkeeper for Hampshire County Cricket Club. He played cricket for Hampshire from 1932 to 1951 and scored more runs than any other wicketkeeper for the County....
(between 1932–1951) scored the most runs (15,834, including the five highest scores by a Hampshire 'keeper), Aymes is considered to combine the two skills to the greatest effect. McCorkell passed the benchmark '1000 runs in a season' 9 times, a feat Aymes failed to match. This is in part due to Aymes only averaging 27 innings per season compared with McCorkell's 46. Only 12 players have a higher Hampshire batting average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
than Aymes' 31.22, undoubtably helped by Aymes remaining undefeated
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
in 25% of his visits to the crease.
Aymes was a technically-correct batsman who prided himself on not giving his wicket away, and was often required to shore up batting inadequacies in the side. Hampshire struggled in their two seasons in Division 1
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
(in 2000 and 2000); this unfortunately coincided with Aymes' hand and knee injuries. Aymes was regarded as the best wicket-keeper in the County Championship, being equally adept at standing back to the West Indies fast
Seam bowling
Seam bowling is a phrase used for a bowling technique in cricket whereby the ball is deliberately bowled on to its seam, to cause a random deviation. Practitioners are known as seam bowlers or seamers....
bowler Malcolm Marshall
Malcolm Marshall
By 1984 Marshall was seen as one of the finest bowlers in the world, and he demoralised England that summer, especially at Headingley, where he ran through the order in the second innings to finish with 7-53, despite having broken his thumb whilst fielding in the first innings...
and standing up to the leg spin
Leg spin
Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in the sport of cricket. A leg spinner bowls right-arm with a wrist spin action, causing the ball to spin from right to left in the cricket pitch, at the point of delivery. When the ball bounces, the spin causes the ball to deviate sharply from right to left, that...
of Shane Warne
Shane Warne
Shane Keith Warne is a former Australian international cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. In 2000, he was selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century, the only specialist bowler selected in the quintet...
. It was in standing up to his medium pace bowlers that brought the downfall of David Ward
David Ward
David Ward may refer to:*David Jenkins Ward, American politician*David Ward *David Ward , British Liberal Democrat politician, MP for Bradford East*David S...
in the 1991 Natwest Trophy Final, which turned the fate of the match. Aymes was also unlucky not to participate in the 1998–99 tour of Australia
English cricket team in Australia in 1998-99
-Second Test: 28-30 Nov 1998, Perth:-Third Test: 11-15 Dec 1998, Adelaide:-Fourth Test: 26-30 December, Melbourne:-Fifth Test: 2-6 January, Sydney:-References:* Playfair Cricket Annual* Wisden Cricketers Almanack...
after a slight dip of form towards the end of the season.
His benefit
Benefit (sports)
A benefit or testimonial is a match or season of activities granted by a sporting body to a loyal sportsman to boost their income before retirement. Often this is in the form of a match for which all the ticket proceeds are given to the player in question.There have been occasions when a...
year in 2000 raised £174,995, and included the first cricket match of the new millennium in Hambledon
Hambledon, Hampshire
Hambledon is a small village and civil parish in the county of Hampshire in England, situated about north of Portsmouth.Hambledon is best known as the 'Cradle of Cricket'. It is thought that Hambledon Club, one of the oldest cricket clubs known, was formed about 1750...
, the site of the first cricket club
Hambledon Club
The Hambledon Club was a social club that is famous for its organisation of 18th century cricket matches. By the late 1770s it was the foremost cricket club in England.-Foundation:...
.
Throughout 2002 he suffered with a knee injury, which only allowed him to play 5 matches. With the up-and-coming Nic Pothas
Nic Pothas
Nic Pothas is a South African cricketer who plays as a right-handed batsman and who fields as a wicket-keeper. In a total of over 200 first-class matches, he has taken over 500 catches...
taking his place, he ended his Hampshire contract with one year still to serve, and retired from professional cricket.
Post first-class career
On retirement from first-class cricket, Adi returned to captain his village side, Hursley Park, competing in the ECBEngland and Wales Cricket Board
The England and Wales Cricket Board is the governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was created on 1 January 1997 combining the roles of the Test and County Cricket Board, the National Cricket Association and the Cricket Council...
Southern Premier League. Alan Jones, the Hursley Chairman said, "We’re delighted to have Adi back with us. His ability and sheer enthusiasm for the game will give everyone at the club a boost." Aymes, who last played for Hursley Park in 1989, marked his return to recreational cricket with 119 in a record club league opening-partnership of 231 with Roman Prendergast.
As a favour to chairman Martin Griffiths (who was in charge of Aymes' benefit committee in 2000), he became joint manager of football side Fleet Town
Fleet Town F.C.
Fleet Town Football Club are a semi-professional football club based in Fleet, Hampshire, England. They were established in 1890 and joined the Athenian League in 1979. In 2004, they joined the Isthmian League First Division, were moved into the Southern League Division One South & West in 2007,...
in 2002–03 alongside Mark Dennis
Mark Dennis
Mark Earl Dennis is a retired footballer born in Streatham, London, who played at left-back for Birmingham City, Southampton, Queens Park Rangers and Crystal Palace. He was capped three times for England under-21s. He is Director of Football at Winchester City.Dennis was sent off 12 times in his...
, steering them away from near-certain relegation, and winning the Russell Cotes Cup. It was even necessary for Aymes to put on his boots and play in goal for Fleet. When goalkeeper Tyrone King fell awkwardly and went to hospital, Aymes played in goal for the second half. He let in two goals as Fleet lost to Sittingbourne 3–0. After Dennis left the club to become Director of Football at Eastleigh Town
Eastleigh F.C.
Eastleigh Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in Eastleigh, Hampshire. The club are currently members of the Conference South and play at the Silverlake Stadium.-History:...
in June 2003, Aymes followed him out of Fleet saying it was "geographically not possible" to stay on in charge at Calthorpe Park for another season. On joining Havant and Waterlooville as fitness coach during the 2005–06 season he had a "tremendous impact on the stamina of the players", and took on the responsibilities of the club manager the following year.
External links
- Adrian Aymes at Cricket Archive