Donald Trelford: Hollioakes ready for ultimate Test (15 July 1997)

Tuesday 15 July 1997

Hollioakes ready for ultimate Test

Donald Trelford On Tuesday

WHY did the England cricket selectors give their losing team such a resounding vote of confidence, picking the squad a week early and sending them off for a session of "bonding"?

The Old Trafford Test revealed a number of technical failures that no amount of "counselling" will cure. Team spirit can, of course, make a difference in fielding and when a side have their backs to the wall. But it is essentially a game for talented individuals whose motivation has to come from within.

I`m concerned that the England batsmen are now in a comfort zone from which the fear of failure has been withdrawn. The best kind of motivation is to be uncomfortably aware that a rival is breathing down your neck.

What restored England`s confidence in the early summer, and set the pulses racing, was our success in the one-day internationals. This was inspired by the Hollioake brothers, Adam and Ben, who were then left out of the Tests.

Yet Ben showed again last Saturday what an assured and dashing batsman he is. As I said before the first Test, I would play Alec Stewart as an opener with Mike Atherton, followed by Nasser Hussain, Graeme Thorpe and John Crawley, with the Hollioake brothers at six and seven.

It will be argued that the talent for one-day cricket does not always transfer to the five-day Test arena. I remember hearing this said about Neil Fairbrother by Ted Dexter, then the chairman of selectors, after the Lancastrian left-han- der had struck a one-day hundred against the West Indies at Lord`s.

The late Denis Compton said to Dexter: "It looks as though you`ve found a real batsman for the summer."

"Oh no," said the lordly Ted. "He`s just a one-day player."

Compo looked puzzled. "In my day," he said, "you could either bat a bit or you couldn`t, and this chap can bat." I feel the same about young Hollioake.

NATURE did not make me the right shape to scrum down with Fran Cotton, but I am happy to take him on in a battle of words. As I had predicted, the British Lions manager brought such powerful moral authority to the Rugby Football Union`s annual meeting in London last Friday that the membership fell into line behind his candidate for chairman of the new man- agement board, Cliff Brittle, with results that some can scarcely bear to think about.

Cotton was scathing about my attack on Brittle last week, singling the column out for his "utter contempt". The Daily Telegraph was attacked by both sides in the debate, which suggests the paper must be doing something right, if only getting itself read.

I wish someone could tell me what Brittle stands for, apart from himself. What issue of principle about the future of rugby divides him from the rest of the RFU? I know of none. Essentially, this is about power, not principle.

His re-election promises to provoke a bloodbath at Twickenham, which is bound to deflect attention from the urgent issues facing the game.

What Brittle`s election has underlined is that the RFU`s one-club, one-vote system is unsuited to the profes- sional era. The big clubs, sustained by massive investment, cannot have their futures determined by the needs and whims of amateurs and old boys.

If Brittle forces out Tony Hallett, the RFU`s chief executive, as he threatens to do, the big clubs will lose the man they most trust at Twickenham, bringing closer the day when they regroup as rugby`s own Premier League, making their own deals. After all, they already own the players.

Ironically, as I pointed out to him at our single meeting, the outcome of Brittle`s Messianic mission could be the opposite of what he intends. A strife-torn and destabilised Twickenham will lose all authority, effectively handing the game over to the senior clubs, the people whose power he wants to keep in check.

THE vote for Brittle will have been greeted with appre- hension in Australia, where Jack Rowell`s position was already being undermined by Don Rutherford`s approaches to overseas coaches.

Brittle had a knife out for Jack last Christmas when he called for a special meeting of the national playing committee to discuss England`s lacklustre performances. He insists the job of England coach has to be full-time, which would rule out businessman Rowell.

If Rowell departs, which seems inevitable, Phil de Glanville`s period as captain will surely end. His two missed tackles against Australia led to tries and exposed a lack of pace at this level.

Jeremy Guscott and Will Greenwood would be my centre pairing, with Nick Greenstock a lively spare. My choice of captain, as I`ve said before, would be Lawrence Dallaglio, who has grown in stature immensely on and off the field.

Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/)