HAMPSHIRE manager Giles White admits globetrotting Jimmy Adams may need to be rested at the start of the new domestic season.

Adams has hardly had a break since winning Hampshire’s Player of the Year award for the second successive season.

He began the winter with the England Performance Programme in Australia before joining the Auckland Aces, who he helped win New Zealand’s HRV Cup last weekend.

Now he is preparing to captain Hampshire at this month’s Caribbean T20, after which he will stay in the West Indies to spend three months with the England Lions.

When that finishes, he will only have a week to prepare for Hampshire’s opening game of the season at the start of April.

Last season, Michael Lumb’s Hampshire form dipped after a busy winter with the Rajasthan Royals and England.

White does not want another of his star opening batsmen to suffer Twenty20 burnout.

He admitted: “That’s a slight concern. Fortunately, New Zealand’s Twenty20 tournament isn’t too full on but we’ll make sure Jimmy has a break before the season starts when he’s back from the Lions tour.

“He may have to be rested at the start of the season but he’s having a few days’ rest this week while we have three or four days’ practice in Barbados.”

Adams will join his Hampshire teammates in Antigua for their opening game of the tournament against the Canadian national team tonight.

Full story in today's Southern Daily Echo