Hollioake made his England debut in two One Day International matches against Pakistan in August 1996. He led the England A team on their tour of Australia in 1996-97 and was man of the series in the home One Day International series against Australia in May 1997, scoring the winning runs in all three games. He made his test debut, playing alongside his brother Ben, against Australia in August 1997, scoring 45 runs in the first innings and taking two wickets.
Although his test career only lasted for four matches in 1997 and at the beginning of 1998, Hollioake achieved greater success in One Day Internationals, playing in 35 matches from 1996 to 1999. He captained the side to victory in the 1997 Sharjah Cup, England’s first tournament success for ten years. Injuries and a loss of form saw him lose the captaincy after 14 matches.
After 173 first classes matches for Surrey, Hollioake retired from cricket at the end of the 2004 season. He made an appearance in the 2005 Asian Tsunami appeal charity match, taking a hat-trick, and made a brief return to Twenty20 cricket in 2007, playing in eight matches for Essex. Robert Baldwin caught up with him to ask a few questions.
Adam, you’re now living in Queensland, Australia. Will the upcoming trip to Indonesia be your first trip to the archipelago?
It isn’t my first trip to Indonesia, I have been a few times before but I haven’t been back for a few years now. I’m coming up with a couple of other cricketers and sportsmen for the Legend IV Java Tour Dinner with Jeff Thomson and All Black, Andy Haden.
What is your connection with Indonesia?
My mother’s father, Granddad, was Indonesian and fought with the Dutch Army during WWII. Grandma and Grandpa were married in Melbourne during WWII. Mum never knew him as he was killed before she had a chance to meet him. The family story is, Granddad after serving in Australia in WWII returned to Indonesia, joined the Independence struggle and was killed fighting for Indonesian Independence. We have been to Indonesia on several occasions to try to locate his grave and to find out a bit more about our heritage. Because of this I have always felt a strong bond with Indonesia and the Indonesian people. Now that I’m living in Australia I want to try to get up to Indonesia more often. And if any readers know anything about my Grandfather, Amir Mohammad, I’d like to hear from them.
Well that makes you and your brother, Ben Indonesia’s finest cricketers. Ben, as we know, was killed in a car accident at only 23 years old, just as he was embarking on his International cricket career. Back yard cricket at your home must have been interesting. Which of you is actually Indonesia’s greatest cricketer?
Ha, I always won the backyard cricket battles, but then again I was six years older than him. Once he got to the age where he could beat me I refused to play anymore.
You were the winningest captain ever in English County Cricket when at Surrey. What do you attribute your leadership success there to?
The record I have with Surrey is one of my proudest achievements. I think the fact that we had so many great players was the biggest contributor to this. We had several players who earned England Caps and had a great bowling unit that was always capable of getting 20 wickets – our batting was also strong and we eventually developed into a cohesive team after playing together so long.
What will you be talking about at the Legends IV Java Tour Dinner?
I am happy talking about cricket or indeed boxing or Mixed Martial Arts – I have been a professional at all three sports. I am always happy talking about myself…I am my favourite topic ha ha!
Smokes, thanks for this interview, Jakarta looks forward to hosting you in early March, 2013.
Cheers mate.
Join Adam, Thommo, and Andy Haden at the Legends IV Java Tour Dinner. For more info email: baldyciawi@gmail.com or phone Robert Baldwin 0815-921-7115