Like to learn off players more than anything else: Zampa

The last four months in Adam Zampa's fledgling career have been fruitful to say the least. From being a novice to becoming Australia's lead spinner in the shorter forms of the game, the leg spinner has come a long way.

Zampa, a member of the Australian touring contingent taking part in the One-Day International (ODI) tri-series in West Indies, took time off during the team's stopover in New York to watch the New York Mets baseball team in action. Subsequently, in a chat with cricket.com.au, the prodigious spinner revealed the methods behind his fast start to cricket.

"My favourite thing to do is to learn off players (and) bowl more to good players," Zampa was quoted as saying on Monday (May 30). "I have one guy who I go to, (Melbourne Stars assistant coach) Trent Woodhill. He's been an amazing mentor for me as a batting and bowling coach. To have him there at the Stars (has been great).

"(But) I like to learn off players more than anything else. Dave Hussey, I've played under him... I've played under Steve Smith. They're all very good players, and very good players of spin as well. I'm very close with KP (Kevin Pietersen) now, he's great. Bowling to him in the nets (at the Stars and the Supergiants) is an absolute nightmare, so the more I can bowl to the great players like that, the more I'm going to improve."

Zampa has been on constant move, be it in the Sheffield Shield or the Big Bash. The leg spinner moved from New South Wales to South Australia, a decision that paid dividends as he got selected to the national squad. It was also a wise move from Zampa allowing him to train under South Australia's Darren Barry, who was instrumental in correcting minor technical flaws in the bowler.

"I had a few technical issues and I had to work in the nets pretty much for four or five hours a day, four or five days a week (in the 2014 pre-season)," he said. "In the Matador Cup in Brisbane, I was the best spinner by far in that and then it's come on from there. I had a good Big Bash in Adelaide (in BBL 04) and the good thing for us young guys is the Big Bash is well broadcast and gets a lot of attention, so that's definitely helped me as well.

"The Stars was an amazing move for me. I felt like I was on the brink of national selection and I thought going to a big franchise and being around some key Australian players as well I thought would be a right move."

Stephen Fleming, Zampa's coach at the Stars and at Rising Pune Supergiants, signed the 24-year-old for the ninth season of the Indian Premier League. Playing under legendary captain MS Dhoni, the leg spinner wasted no time in announcing himself to the Indian audience, claiming a memorably six-fer against eventual champions Sunrisers Hyderabad.

"(Fleming is) perfect for me as well. He's very relaxed," Zampa said. "He tells us to do what you need to do, prepare how you want to prepare and as long as you get the job done on the day ... I like playing under Flem.

"Dhoni was a very calming influence. I enjoyed it, he was good to me. He's exactly how you'd think he is. Very chilled. Not in terms of not caring, but the way you see him on the field is exactly what he's like off the field as well.

"I don't think I need a lot of help, particularly in that format of the game. I know my role pretty well and I know when to try to defend and when to attack so nothing really changes too much for me."

Australia, the defending 50-over world champions, play their first game of the tri-series against host West Indies at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on June 5.