JIMMY Adams is looking forward to being reunited with former teammate Andre Adams.

Hampshire captain Adams played alongside his namesake for the Auckland Aces in 2010-11 and will be captaining him at The Ageas Bowl next year.

Nottinghamshire legend Adams will play for Hampshire for the first three months of next season and his new captain is looking forward to having him lead the attack.

“He’s a serious competitor; very, very experienced and an incredibly gifted bowler,” said Adams. “I haven’t played against him for a few years but he’s every left handers’ nightmare!

“When people heard he was leaving Notts I’m sure many left-handers would have been happy to see the back of him but he’s going to be around for a wee bit longer!

“I haven’t seen him for a while but he’s a strong boy and if we can keep him fit he’ll be a superb acquisition.

“I see no reason why he shouldn’t do a very good job for us in the early part of the year, the three months that he’s here.

“I’m delighted we were able to twist his arm. I owe him a few BBQs, he was a very good to me in Auckland and it will be good to see him.

“Benky (Hampshire coach Dale Benkenstein) knows him well too. I’m very much looking forward to having him about.

“He’ll be a good presence in the dressing room. As well as being a very strong, hard competitor, he’s also a straight talker.

“At times we can be quite a nice changing room so it will be good to have him on board. He’s got a wealth of experience behind him so will be good for the bowlers to work with and for all of us. He’s a real good signing.”

Only one other New Zealander has taken more than Adams’ 683 first-class wickets (at 23.75) – Sir Richard Hadlee.

A former New Zealand international, he has not played limited-overs county cricket for a few years and injuries have limited him to 20 Championship matches in the last two seasons.

But he has still taken 67 wickets at 28.98 in that time, including 36 at 28.13 this year (he has 344 Championship wickets at 24.18 for Notts overall).

Andre will be 40 next July and was planning to retire and concentrate on coaching at Auckland before Hampshire came calling.

“He’s had an outstanding record for a number of years now and has gone well again this year,” continued Hampshire’s captain.

“He’s looking at the coaching side of things and I think that will help us where we are with our bowling group.

“I don’t want to get too carried away but he’s going to be a very important part of our bowling unit.”