The Zampa mode: Uncurbing enthusiasm and keeping receipts

Zampa has been one of the standout bowlers in Australia’s World Cup campaign ©AFP

Adam Zampa keeps the receipts when it comes to criticism, especially if it’s unwarranted and has to do more with how he is rather than how he performs. And he uses them to stir himself up in big matches.

In this very candid chat, the legspinner, who has led the way for Australia making the knockouts with some sensational returns, talks about his hatred for the constant talk of the “Australian way”, wanting to be his own man, why he doesn’t always sing the national anthem and how his life has been influenced by Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld.

EXCERPTS:

Kuldeep Yadav recently said that he had predicted that you’d have a great World Cup and might be the best wrist spinner, and he was happy that his prediction has come true. Have you had much to do with him and your reaction to his kind words?

I didn’t hear that. I mean very nice, kind words. Kuldeep and I have always had a bit of a rapport with each other. We see each other around the games. Always have a chat. Got a lot of respect for him. His record speaks for itself, especially for a guy who feels like he has had so much pressure on him since he started playing for India. He was kind of battling out with other spinners as well. He’s been the guy to retain his spot. Humbling to hear it from a fellow wrist spinner. He’s bowling really well. There are a couple of nice battles coming up. (Keshav) Maharaj as a spinner has been unbelievable. And then Kuldeep. It’s good to see who’ll come up on top amongst us.

He also spoke about the return of wrist spin in this World Cup and how 2019 wasn’t a good tournament for either of you. If you could speak of the union itself, is it a transformation you guys have made as a collective to get your own back in white-ball cricket?

Four years ago, we were both young men. You look back on that World Cup, and you look at like an Adil Rashid who made an impact, but he was someone probably in more control of his craft than Kuldeep and I. It’s just personal development. I know looking back on that World Cup, I definitely could have been bowling better but the environment that was created could have been better for me as well. I just think where I am at now with my bowling, the environment is created where there’s freedom to go and learn and get better and do whatever I want while I am out there on the field. That has helped me get to where I am.

Freedom to be yourself as well, to be your own man. Has the environment changed to an extent where Adam Zampa doesn’t have to worry about being Adam Zampa? If that makes sense…

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely, especially in terms of being your best cricketing self.

This whole thing about Adam Zampa wanting to be Adam Zampa, how far back can we trace it to?

Hmmm. Look, probably bits and pieces throughout my life until a few years ago. Getting married… I had obviously been with Harriet for quite a long time but my transformation has come from being older, a more mature human being, going through ups and downs in my career, going through ups and downs in relationships and life in general. It’s just come to a point now where I’m comfortable in what I’ve created in my life. My cricket career could end tomorrow, and I could look back and say, well it’s been a decent time, but I’ve also got other things around it, which will mean I’m ok as well. There’s a comfort that comes with that, and it also makes it easier for me to be like, ‘f@*@ it, I’ll be myself’. Be outspoken if I have to be and enjoy the ride a little more.

We always talk about this as a group; I was mentioning this sitting in a cafe last week, that you’ve got to try and enjoy it. We are all in our 30s now. We are closer to the finish line than we are to the start. There’s always this comment, being in the bush. People get in the bush when they’re on tour for so long, so you have to try and get yourself out of it and convince yourself that this isn’t going to last forever, so just enjoy it.

“The team environment allows me the freedom to go and learn and get better and do whatever I want,”says Zampa ©AFP

You’re right. Look around the group, you’re mostly all in your 30s, you’re fathers and husbands and even during the Ashes as well, you had kids running around. Winning games for Australia is the ultimate thing. And there’s always this talk of “oh they need to play the Australian way” back home but you guys are just a bunch of people who are sorted in lives who play cricket as a profession. It’s a great job to have but it’s a job..

Yeah I mean I would be lying if I said I’m not dreaming of winning this World Cup. I’d love to. But if it doesn’t happen then, yeah, I’d be disappointed, but I’d probably wake up the next day and be thinking of the next thing that’s going on in my life and in my career and everything. The thing is with the Australian team as well, if you end up winning the World Cup, people will be happy for us but there’ll always be comments of how could we have done it better. (Laughs)

I hate the term ‘Australian way’. Australia have made the semi-finals but yeah, [there will always be talks about how] they didn’t start well, how they should have started better. The matter of fact is that whatever we do, it’s not good enough anyway. Even if we win the World Cup, someone’s going to be out there saying they could have done it better. “Did they do it with the right XI?”

Does Adam Zampa really need his glasses? So what if he couldn’t see the ball without them…

(Laughter) It’s true though.

Just about Australia as a country itself, and you’ve got that rare perspective where you’re able to disassociate from society and be true to yourself. Does this whole constant nagging over how you guys carry yourself go back to how Australia is changing as a country from the time you were a child? And maybe that you’ve become unrelatable to a certain generation?

I feel like we are more progressive than we probably used to be. It’s just still the “Australian way”. There are always going to be people in Australia who think that they know what the “Australian way” means or they’ll make up a reason in their mind why singing the national anthem is so important to them. It will always be like that.

You brought it up. And you have been criticized for not singing the anthem. It’s just your choice right? It’s not that you don’t love Australia or you don’t love playing for Australia. You just don’t want to sing it…

Absolutely. We all have a choice to make. And if you don’t feel like singing the national anthem then you don’t have to. Doesn’t mean I don’t respect Australia and don’t love living where I live and love doing what I’m doing. I love playing cricket for Australia. Love living in Australia. Sometimes I just don’t feel like singing the anthem. That’s it. (Laughs)

What were you like as a child? Always like this, wanting to break free and be yourself and not buy into this whole template of how people think you should be?

No I don’t think I was always like this. Think I just watched too much Curb Your Enthusiasm, watched too many Seinfeld and Larry David videos basically. And that’s just rubbed off on me. (Laughs)

So Larry David is responsible for all of this?

Yes, I think so. (Laughs)

So even with the national anthem or just you being you, you’ve reached a point where you don’t give a shit? People are always going to talk crap anyway…

Yeah it’s like someone showed me the Phil Gould tweet where he said, “Did I miss a meeting? What’s Adam Zampa doing wearing glasses? Is it a fashion statement?” I was like, Phil, just maybe pick up the phone and give me a call and I’ll tell you why I’m wearing glasses. Because I have dropped a lot of catches and I want to try and see the ball. (Laughs)

And you took a great catch against England the other night with them…

See, the glasses are working for now. Touch wood. People will always have their opinion on everything. Take it with a grain of salt.

Personally speaking, if you are a little different, people talk crap about you even more wherever you are in the world. And that can push you even more towards being you…

Yeahh. I now have a “keep the receipts” kind of attitude. It’s natural for me to be like that. I always read what people say and if I feel like it can stir me on a little bit, I use it.

Has it happened in recent times when it has stirred you on…

Absolutely.

Oh really?

Definitely. I’ve always been like that. I remember a bloody school teacher when I was a kid, when I had made the under-12s New South Wales team and he was like, “Not a very high percentage of kids who make this team go and play for Australia” and I was like f@#% that. I’ll show you. And I was 11-years-old. But even the T20 World Cup that we won, the whole thing was about let’s show the world that whatever they said was wrong. I kept the receipts then and read them out loud after we won it. And I’m keeping the receipts in case this one goes well as well.

© Cricbuzz