Zampa buys into Baywatch belief

Spinner Adam Zampa has revealed how a Test legend and an iconic star of the silver screen helped to fuel the self-belief that has so impressed the young leggie's teammates and coaches in the early stages of his international career.

It was Freud who said "confidence of success often induces real success", a mantra that was redefined by one of modern cricket's great thinkers, former leg-spinner Shane Warne, whose on-field theatrics and bravado helped unsettle many an international batsman during his 15 years at the top.

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And it's Warne's own take on Freud’s theory – albeit a less sophisticated version – that has spurred Zampa along the same path as his famous predecessor.

"(When I was a teenager) we had a little seminar and Warnie came to the SCG to work with some spinners and that was his thing: the 'Hasselhoff Theory'," Zampa told cricket.com.au of Warne's words of wisdom, named after Hollywood actor David Hasselhoff who was best known for playing a brash and egocentric lifeguard in the 1990s flesh-fest Baywatch.

"You might not be on top of the game or you may be on the back foot a bit, but he just said to stick your chest out."

Zampa's playground may be more Melbourne Cricket Ground than Malibu, but the message stuck in the mind of the impressionable teen.

And so ingrained has Warne's theory become, it's transformed Zampa from a reserved and timid teenager into a fountain of self-belief.

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"I don't know if it was a real personality trait of mine when I was younger," he says. "Growing up in the country (Zampa hails from the small coastal town of Shellharbour, 100km south of the SCG), you always feel like you're a step back from the guys in the city.

"I probably made a conscious effort when I was about 17 or 18 ... to make sure that even though I'm not the most talented at the moment, that I had a step up on the others.

"And I remember at a young age (I thought about) Warnie's Hasselhoff theory, to stick your chest out.

"If the ball got hit back at me I'd always throw it back at the batsman and try and get one up on them somehow.

"So ever since then it's just continued on."

And while there was plenty of false bravado during those formative years, there's nothing fabricated about Zampa today. What you see is what you get.

"I actually feel when I'm on the field now that I'm not making a conscious effort (to be confident)," he says.

"I feel a lot more relaxed than I used to be, or than people perceive me to be. It's just something that's natural to me now."

It's an attribute that's admired by his coaches and teammates as well.

During this Qantas Tour of the West Indies alone, caretaker coach Justin Langer, captain Steve Smith and fellow spinner Nathan Lyon have all remarked that it's what's between Zampa's ears that's one of his best qualities.

"He's very calm, he's a different sort of cat, Zamps," Langer said after the leggie claimed 3-16 against the West Indies last week.

"But he's very competitive and his control is excellent.

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"And you see with most of the really great spinners, they have very good control and they know where they're going to land the ball and if they have a little bit of variation, that's great.

"He's really confident at the moment of where he's landing the ball and that's what impressed me the most."

Zampa admits he's had a lot fall his way so far in his short international career.

Six of his 10 matches for Australia so far have come either in India or on a spin-friendly surface in Guyana last week, giving him the best possible chance to find his feet against some of the best players in the world.

And he says no amount of swagger can disguise the step up in class between domestic cricket and international level.

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"It's definitely more intense and it's much faster as well," he says. "The amount of pressure you're under, especially at the Twenty20 World Cup as a spinner, the pressure mounts on you and it's much different to state cricket.

"(The pressure is) more external, not so much internal. Especially when you get to tournaments like the IPL, everything is so in your face.

"I expected to do pretty well, particularly with the conditions that I've had.

"The Twenty20 World Cup in India in particular was quite hard (for batsmen) to play spin and then I've come (to Guyana). So I've had some pretty good situations to be in.

"I'm not resting on my laurels. I've got some tough challenges coming up, but I'm happy with where I'm sitting at the moment."