Hollioake joins coaching team to lift England

ENGLAND have enlisted the help of their former one-day captain Adam hollioake as they look to bolster a coaching set-up hit by Covid ahead of Tuesday night’s fourth Test at the sCG. With director of cricket Ashley Giles flying in to Australia earlier than planned in an attempt to understand exactly what has gone wrong on England’s Ashes trip, the 50-year-old hollioake has received clearance to travel from his home on Australia’s Gold Coast to join the tour in sydney. he will be reunited with his old surrey team-mate Graham Thorpe, who is in charge while head coach Chris silverwood isolates in Melbourne after a member of his family tested positive. Bowling coach Jon Lewis and spin coach Jeetan Patel are already in quarantine, so the arrival of hollioake (right) — who led England in 14 of his 35 one-day internationals in the late 1990s as well as winning four Test caps — will supply important back-up as Joe Root’s side attempt to stop a 3-0 deficit turning into a 5-0 whitewash. since the start of silverwood’s absence, Thorpe has had to make do with the help of two consultants: Nottinghamshire assistant coach Ant Botha, brought on tour because his left-arm throwdowns were supposed to prepare England’s batsmen for the challenge of facing Mitchell starc, and former Test wicketkeeper James Foster, who has been working with Jos Buttler. it is understood England also tried to recruit fast-bowling coach Troy Cooley, the Australian whose involvement helped Michael Vaughan’s side to victory in the 2005 Ashes, but he is busy working for the BCCi in india. Thorpe said that hollioake, who led surrey to three Championship titles around the turn of the millennium, would bring ‘a bit of energy to the dressing room, and the philosophical side of life as well, which is very important in times like this. he’ll help out on the training days. he’s a good guy and he’ll bring that nice sense of perspective’. it is unclear whether hollioake will travel on for the fifth Test at hobart starting on January 14 — partly because a return date for silverwood is yet to be finalised, partly because of heightened concern about the spread of the virus, with the number of cases in New south Wales almost doubling overnight to reach more than 21,000 on New Year’s Eve. News that Australia’s No 5 batsman Travis head will miss the fourth Test after catching the virus has done little to calm fears in the England camp of further positive results among the hosts — not least because the two teams will continue to share a hotel in sydney, albeit on different floors. Thorpe’s challenge will be to lift his players. ‘i’ve seen the dark side of life,’ he said, a reference to his well-documented, bitter divorce several years ago. ‘it’s a game of cricket, but losing hurts and i want to see character from the guys. ‘As a player, i’ve been bowled out in the West indies for 40-odd. We won the next Test match. i see an opportunity to show people that we are not like that — we are better than that.’