Date-stamped : 18 Nov96 - 10:11 17 November 1996 Selectors May Pitch Adams Into The Fray Colin Bryden SA Coach Bob Woolmer yesterday dropped a stong hint that unortho- dox spin bowler Paul Adams could be drafted straight into the team for the first Test against India starting in Ahmedabad in Wednesday. Adams leaves SA tomorrow and will join the squad on Tuesday. The next day he could be bowling to Sachin Tendulkar and Mohammed Azhrauddin. "Adams adds a new dimension to our attack," said Woolmer. "He is a prodigious spinner of the ball and on Indian surfaces he will be very dangerous indeed." Woolmer pointed out that the 19 year old Western Province bowler was the man in possesion of the Test spinning slot, having played in the last 2 tests against England last season. "Ideally he would have played in this game," said Woolmer, refer- ring to the 3 day match in Baroda. "We wanted him to come 2 or 3 weeks ago but the selectors turned us down because they felt he was not fit." That concern was put to rest by Adams` successful return to the Western Province side against Boland. At the very least, Woolmer noted, Adams would make groundsmen think twice about preparing pitches tailor made for Indian spin bowlers. Woolmer also disclosed that the final match of the tour, a day- night game in Bombay on December 14, would be an official limited-overs international. Earlier he had said that the team would prefer the match, a bene- fit for former India player Mohinder Armanath, to be an unoffi- cial game. Woolmer said that the granting of official status to a benefit game set a dubious precedence. Source :: Sunday Times Contributed by Bob.Dubery (dauphin@aztec.co.za)