Few players have had a greater impact on Nottinghamshire's campaigns in recent years than Andre Adams. Widely regarded as one of the best bowlers in county cricket, the powerful New Zealander will once again be central to the Notts attack. Now one of the elder statesmen at Trent Bridge, the transition into the next stage of his career has already begun.

Where many of his teammates eyed limited-over glory either with bat or ball, his path took him off the pitch and into the coaching staff in Auckland, where he had been a player/coach for the last few winters.

"Coaching was interesting as an alternative to playing, it was strange not really having the control," he said.

"This side is definitely capable of winning the championship but we need to get on a roll." Andre Adams

"When you're a player you're in control but to be a coach you're empowering them and then they go out and do what you tell them.

"Well, most of them go out and don't do what you tell them."

For Adams, this responsibility continues into his time with Nottinghamshire and the season ahead.

"It's part of my job description," said Adams.

"Mick has me down as a senior player, here to help lead a young attack and it's my job to share my experience and help them to become as good as they can be.

"There's no substitute for experience and it's more a case of helping to develop their awareness and understanding how their skills will benefit the team.

"We have a lot of players who are hungry and keen to learn. You have to have that ability and to want to learn before you achieve something."

While coming through the ranks at Auckland, Adams never had the benefit of a bowling coach per se, his mentor, Dion Nash, provided him with all the help he needed.

"We haven't had a bowling coach for as long as I can remember, so I think that I'm the first bowling coach in my playing lifetime," said Adams.

"It's not like over here in the UK where guys, after finishing playing cricket they carry on into the game, most just fade into the background"

Adams spent the tail end of last summer on the treatment table after going through injury but despite these issues flaring up over the winter, he is confident that they won't cause him a problem in the season ahead.

"I've taken the steps that I need to fitness wise to try and rectify those calf issues I had last season, I had a couple of problems with them in new Zealand too," he said.

"That wasn't great but what it did was highlight the fact that the bits that are falling off or falling apart, you've got to look after them.

"I'm not used to having those injuries. I'm usually injury free, so hopefully my calves will stay attached for the coming season."

Completing the season is Adams' main target and while he does not set himself wicket aims, he is looking to bowl consistently and accurately for the duration, despite Trent Bridge's traditional reputation as a seamer's haven.

"My success is down to being very stoic in what I do, there are no secrets to it." said Adams.

"I pride myself on the fact that I can bowl accurately on any surface; that you're going to get the same results if the pitch is really flat.

"The idea is just to bowl accurately and to pressure batsmen. When it's seaming around I actually don't enjoy it as much, it's much less of a challenge.

"You know you can take wickets when it's seaming, anyone can do that, but it's the periods of pressure on flat wickets that I find really rewarding."

Any attack that boasts Adams is formidable at LV= County Championship level and he is targeting silverware for the club in this, his penultimate season, especially after the disappointment of last summer. The margins between finishing respectably and at the top of the table are fine, and Adams wants the balance to shift in the club's favour over the coming months.

"The lack of bonus points in the early games of the season really hurt us, we didn't get enough from batting in our first innings," he said.

"If you want to want to win games and win championships you've got to get those runs in the first innings.

"We showed last year that we could fight our way back into those games but this year if we're going to do anything we have to score those first innings runs, get those points and then you can pressure a side into giving up and just hammering them the whole time.

"This side is definitely capable of winning the championship but we need to get on a roll. You win the title at the end of the year, but you take a massive step forward by winning the first few games of the season."