KEY POINTS:
When Andre Adams flies out of Auckland to India on February 27, if he glances down at terra firma it won't be with any regrets at what might have been.
The Auckland allrounder has joined the rebel Indian Cricket League on a three-year deal, and is contracted for 102 days this year. That translates to three tournaments, the first starting next month, with others to follow in October and November-December.
He joins seven other New Zealanders in the ICL and can't wait to roll his sleeves up.
"There'll be no regrets," he said yesterday. "It wasn't a hard decision at all. It's reasonable money so I couldn't turn it down."
Earlier this season Adams vented his feelings at what he felt was rough treatment from the national selectors. There were no further sparks yesterday.
"I've done my bit as far as getting over what I needed to get over. I've tried my best this season, obviously it wasn't good enough." Adams, 32, likened the move to a work promotion. "Now it's a job to me. I'm playing to secure the future for my family [wife Ardene and children Dante and Balian] and I've only got four or five years left realistically."
Adams played a solitary test, taking six for 105 in a 78-run win over England at Eden Park in March 2002.
There were 42 ODIs and four Twenty20 internationals along the way. Adams first-class form for Auckland before the Christmas break was first-class indeed - 29 wickets at a remarkable average of 8.7 apiece.
He hopes to play for Auckland next season and is open to any work in English county cricket in between ICL commitments.
Adams does not know which of the ICL franchises he'll be attached to, but thinks it might be the Kolkata Tigers, captained by his former New Zealand teammate Craig McMillan.
The other New Zealanders in the ICL are Adams' present Auckland teammate Daryl Tuffey and other former test players Chris Cairns, Nathan Astle, Chris Harris and Hamish Marshall. Shane Bond has recently signed for this year, and will be among the highest profile players in the competition.
