Adam Hollioake (28 September 1997)

Adam Hollioake is captain of the England team in the 1997 Hong Kong Sixes, and has been named captain of the England squad to play in the one-day international Sharjah Cup in December. He was interviewed on the IRC channel #cricket on 28 Septemb er 1997 at Hong Kong shortly before he was due to appear in the Sixes final for England against Pakistan. Rohan Chandran assisted Adam with the interview, which was moderated by Alak Chakravorty.

j-sree: AdamH: do you think that separate OD and Test squads is the way of the future?

Adam Hollioake yeah. I definitely think that its the way forward. Its the first time that its been done, i just think it shows that the england selectors are starting to think a bit more about there selections. I've been in favour of this for a ve ry long time, and I'm just very pleased to see it happen.

j-sree: AdamH: Thanks. I hope it catches on. (I wouldn't want my country India to be left behind :-))

Ali: After the performance in Ashes, what do you think is the future of england team ?

Adam Hollioake: Well, i know that we lost 3-2, but there's a lot of positive things to take out of the series against Australia.

Adam Hollioake: I think they are the best side in the world and thats commonly accepted, there were some individuals who came through, namely Dean Headley, and a couple of others who proved their world class status, Graham Thorpe and others establi shed themselves. This is good for English cricket, a settled team is going to do a lot better than one which is changing all the time.

Adam Hollioake: on Ramps: I think Mark Ramprakash is a fine player, I'm a huge fan of his, over the last three years he's been the best player in county cricket. For some reason unknown to me he hasn't gone on to reproduce that form in Tests. I thi nk you have to stick with him, you have to tell him you're playing every Test, not likely to be dropped after one Test, and he's likely to come good, as I said, a settled side is important.

Toby: Much was made of your Australian background. Did you ever consider returning to Australia to play there?

Adam Hollioake: Toby: No, I've never considered returning to Australia at all. I learnt my cricket in England in the English system, and if I was to return back to Australia I think I'd be biting the hand which feeds me, in some ways I'd be a trait or. I know my blood is Australian, but I've learnt all my cricket in England.

Nicole: Where did you begin playing cricket?

Adam Hollioake: Nicole: funnily enough, I first started playing cricket in Hong Kong! I was about 9 years old when I first came here, I used to spend.. I'm not talking games, but nets.. I used to play in the nets all the time. The first time I play ed was in Hong Kong, then I spent a year in Australia for about a year before going on to England, and playing the last 15 years there.

Pak: How would you approach a ODI against sri lanka when batting first - if u were captain?

Adam Hollioake: Pak: when you say batting first, I presume you mean we're batting first... basically I would adopt very similar tactics to theirs.. I think they've taken the game forward with the pinch hitting role and the rest of the world really has to learn of it. We have some fine pinch hitters in England who have been selected for Sharjah and hopefully the people out there will see us adopt a similar tactic to that which Sri Lanka have.

j-sree: AdamH: do you think that sometime in the futuremany players will start rating ODIs over Tests? Right now, I think almost every players says Test cricket is the real thing

Adam Hollioake: jsree: I dont believe that any one form of cricketis more important than any other form. Cricket is a game which is competitive, anytime you put on your national jersey/jumper, you should be trying 100% and it's as important whether it's the HK Sixes, a Test match or a one day international.

saad: Earlier u said you'd prefer a stable team? English selectors have always been criticized for being too late to notice talent, incorporate it into their squad. stable team means you'd lose potentially good years from great players...?

Adam Hollioake: saad: I'd like to answer the question and say, you have to go through a rebuilding stage, which England clearly at the moment need to do. We're kidding ourselves if we think we're going to be the best in a couple of months. We have to start picking youngsters, and if that is at the expense of some older players, then im all for that. In terms of one-day cricket, we need to build towards the 1999 world cup, and the same applies in test cricket

fawaz: Whom would you rate as the world's top batsmen? and bowlers?

Adam Hollioake: fawaz: i think there's probably 4 batsmen that spring to mind for me, and there's one that stands out alone as the best, I think Steve Waugh has proven that he's the best player in all situations.Brian Lara and Tendulkar are obvious ly talented, but Steve Waugh does it when the pressure is on, and the other one, who is rated #2 by C&L at the moment is my Surrey teammate Graham Thorpe.

Adam Hollioake: The bowlers, obviously Glenn Mcgrath bowled very well recently, as did Shane Warne,... you've always got Wasim, and Waqar Younis... and then Ambrose and Walsh of course, there's a lot of good bowlers aroundand another whom I think h opefully going to burst on the scene is another Surrey player, Saqlain Mushtaq.

j-sree: AdamH thanks for answering my prev qns. It is a great honour to talk with you. My next qn is how much do bowling machines help? Do you use them?

Adam Hollioake: jsree: umm, I'm a big fan of bowling machines, probably because I can't find anyone to bowl to me in the nets half the time... I think they're crucial when you've only got the two people to practice.

panther: Adam who do you think has the best bowling attack at present?

Adam Hollioake: panther: If you're talking Test cricket, I think Australia have proven by their record of games won in the past few years, they consistently bowl people out.. they have an incredible record of only drawing one or two games in the la st 20 tests or so because they bowl people out.

farzi: what do you think of the australian attitude towards sledging, are they the worst of all?? did you get a lot of it during the tests?

Adam Hollioake: farzi: All I'd like to say about the Australian attitude is that I think it's a very good attitude.. They play it very hard on the pitch, but off the pitch they are prepared to have a drink with you after the game.. I know it's call led sledging but its part of cricket, if you're not mentally strong enough then maybe you shouldnt be playing... go and play tiddlywinks, or something like that !

Alpha: What do u think is england's biggest weakness?

Adam Hollioake: I think Englands biggest weakness is the one day captain they've just announced!!

Adam Hollioake: only joking :-) Thanks guys.