Ireland lost their first one-day international against South Africa yesterday, but their newest star was busy packing his bags for his next adventure.
A T20 specialist, he is off to spend the winter with the University of Adelaide, hoping to sharpen his game on the hard Australian pitches.
On Sunday, Ross Adair announced his arrival on the world stage with a magnificent 57-ball century as Ireland took down South Africa.
The other significant contribution came from his younger brother Mark, who took four wickets.
Mark, 28, has been a pro cricketer since he joined Warwickshire aged 17, turning himself into the leader of the Ireland attack with more than 200 wickets in just over 100 games, four in Sunday’s win over the Proteas.
But Ross has had a more eccentric journey to international cricket, via Ravenhill, Jersey and Ballynahinch.
A T20 century is a rare beast. It requires a batter to start quickly, accelerate, and take every opportunity to hit the ball out of the ground.
On average, you will get just 60 balls to do so. In 171 matches, only three men have made T20 centuries for Ireland.
The first two, Paul Stirling and Kevin O’Brien, have close to 400 caps each, while Ross Adair has played just 10 internationals.
Adair’s innings stand comparison with the other two, whose seven sixes were the Irish record until Sunday.
The Lisburn batsman hit the ball out of the ground nine times, each shot beautifully timed with great power and not a hint of slogging.
His stunning innings has sparked lots of chatter that a lucrative career on the franchise circuit could be around the corner.
Former Ireland wicket-keeper Niall O’Brien, now a leading sports agent, was impressed with what he saw at the Sheikh Zayed International Stadium: ‘His innings has certainly made people stand up and take note. Franchises want people who can take teams down in the powerplay, and Ireland have two such players now in Paul and Ross.
‘The more exposure he can get the more traction he will get globally, so it’s a case of building on this. But Ireland have no T20 internationals for about four months, which is a shame.’
O’Brien is less convinced that the goldmine that is the Indian Premier League would be receptive to Adair’s talents.
‘IPL is a different beast,’ he explains. ‘IPL teams generally don’t need opening batters as India produces so many. They want all-rounders and pace bowlers.’
Aged 30, Adair spent most of his 20s pursuing a career in rugby. He came up the Ulster development pathway at Ravenhill but made just one senior appearance at full-back, coming on for nine minutes against Dragons in the Pro12, scoring a try.
Bryn Cunningham, a Heineken Cup-winning player with Ulster is currently their Head of Rugby Operations and Recruitment.
He recalls Adair’s time at Ravenhill: ‘Ross was a talented all-round player, he had great movement, the mark of players who are multi-disciplined, multi-skilled. He was adept at everything. But he was unlucky, he just didn’t get the breaks.
‘Coaches look for a point of difference, something that sets individuals apart. You look for searing pace, explosive power, a strong kicking game. Ross was very good in all areas but just lacked being exceptional at one. Looking at players who had long pro careers, Ross was as good as many of them.’
Struggling for game time at Ravenhill, Adair moved to Jersey in the English second tier with Ulster’s blessing. He played 47 games, mostly on the left wing, before a degenerative hip injury struck.
His medical insurance wouldn’t cover surgery, so he took out a £15,000 loan. ‘The pain was almost like a ripping across my abdomen,’ he explained.
‘I’d no idea what was going on. We thought it was a hernia. There were hours on an MRI machine. I got my spine checked, got everything checked and everything was fine apart from my hips.’
Ulster kept in touch and Adair returned to Ballynahinch, helping them to the Senior League in 2019 when he was named Club Player of the Year in the Ulster Rugby awards.
Cunningham recalled a discussion about whether Adair would return full-time to Ulster.
‘He was knocking at the door, but Ross was very honest, saying “it’s not going to work out for me”, and decided to go back to cricket.
‘And how he’s excelled at cricket shows there’s no doubt he’s made the right decision.’
Adair grew up in a sporty household. Father Ricky played in goal for Glentoran and played for Northern Ireland at youth level.
Ricky played a major role in getting his sons into cricket: ‘When the boys were old enough to be interested, we had a bit of a lads and dads team down at Holywood,’ he explained. ‘Mark must have been about nine and Ross was 11. That is where their cricketing journey started.’
Ross’s reputation was based on strong performances in club cricket, and one stunning innings in the 2022 interprovincial T20 for Northern Knights when he smashed a tournament record 111 in 49 balls.
He arrived in Abu Dhabi last week with a fairly thin international record, flitting in and out of the side. Lorcan Tucker’s recruitment to the ILT20 in the UAE two years ago opened the door and Ross made his debut against Zimbabwe in Harare, when Mark presented him with his cap.
He made 65 in his second game, but a 46 against lowly Austria was his only other notable score when he joined the squad at the World Cup in June.
Modern cricket has seen a huge shift in the balance of power, with national boards dwindling in importance as players chase the enormous rewards available in the franchise leagues such as the IPL and the Big Bash in Australia.
Ireland’s leading T20 exponent, Josh Little, is missing from the current South Africa series, playing in the Caribbean Premier League. Since the start of 2023 Little has played only 29 of Ireland’s 55 games.
So, while supporters will wish Adair well should he get such opportunities, the thought that his Irish appearances would sharply drop has less appeal.