Jimmy Adams led Hampshire to promotion from the Second Division last year and he did so from the front, with 1,215 runs. But it has been such a struggle since then that, when he scored a deserved century against Somerset here on Friday, it was his first for a year. He has struggled so badly for form that he even gave up the captaincy to concentrate on his batting.
He gave his wicket away in the first innings, when he was run out going for a careless third. Here, though, he made the most of a pitch which is still bursting with runs after three days.
He was dropped, on 94, by Jim Allenby at slip off the bowling of Jamie Overton. But he reached his century with a square drive for four off the same bowler. James Vince, the man who replaced him as captain, was out in the middle to help him celebrate.
At the close of the penultimate day Hampshire were 258 for one, still 132 behind, with Adams, Hampshire’s beneficiary this year, 117 not out. He has batted for five hours and 10 minutes, faced 245 balls and hit 16 fours.
He said afterwards: “It’s been a tough old season, certainly in four-day cricket. It’s been a pretty wretched few months and I would like to thank the guys for sticking with me.
“Sometimes I didn’t know where the next run was coming from. There were certainly times when I was doubting myself. It was nice to come here and trust the wicket.
“And I had a bit of luck today. It must be one of the easier chances Jim has had this year. But you do need a slice of luck, sometimes even more than that. My feeling when I got the hundred was just one of relief.”
But it was a frustrating third day for Somerset. They delayed their declaration until they were 390 runs ahead. And then took just one wicket for the rest of the day.
The spinner Jack Leach said: “We would have liked to have taken more wickets. But we saw in the first innings that if you get through their top order they can collapse, so we still gave some hope for the morning.” Leach took the one wicket that did fall when he had Michael Carberry lbw for 56.
