Adam Hollioake’s arrival as Kent head coach may help further strengthen one of the county’s relationships with a side Down Under.
Hollioake, 53, will head over from his home in Australia in 2025 as he starts his time in charge of Kent, having penned a three-year contract in December.
Among the coaching roles he has taken on was one at Queensland Cricket.
Kent signed exciting fast bowler Xavier Bartlett from Queensland for 2024, featuring in their T20 Blast campaign, and director of cricket Simon Cook had spoken to their general manager Joe Dawes about the possibility of strengthening the relationship between the teams – even before Kent named Queensland-based Hollioake as their new head coach.
Cook, who had crossed paths with Dawes at Middlesex during the early 2000s, said: “Adam’s very well-connected and well-respected within the game.
“He’s got a lot of good contacts. He has done a lot across the globe, actually, and was batting and fielding coach at Queensland.
“That just develops our relationship further with them.
“I was sitting down with their general manager last year and speaking about developing more relationships.
“Xavier Bartlett was the first part of that but actually now, with Adam on board and living in Queensland, it really does allow us to strengthen that relationship even further.”
Hollioake was due to speak to Cook about Kent’s current crop, as well as any potential overseas targets – with Australian pair Wes Agar and Tom Rogers already having agreed to return in 2025 – ahead of Christmas.
“He can start to at least have a think about that,” said Cook, speaking shortly after Hollioake’s appointment. “I know he’s had some long conversations with DBD (Daniel Bell-Drummond) and Sam Billings so they’re starting to build those leadership relationships.
“He’s going to be talking to all the players individually. He has got all of their contact details and will be starting that process of building relationships.
“But he won’t get hands-on with all the players until March 10.”
It’s fair to say that former England all-rounder Hollioake has lived a colourful life – both in and outside of the game.
Having captained Surrey and England’s one-day side, he returned to The Oval in an assistant coach role last year.
His other coaching experiences since he retired from playing in 2007 include with Hong Kong’s national team (head coach), the Boost Defenders in Afghanistan’s Shpageeza Cricket League (head coach), England Lions (fielding coach) and Pakistan (batting coach) for a tour of Australia.
Away from cricket, meanwhile, he has tried his hand at both boxing and MMA fighting.
Cook said: “He has got a lot of experience, living, coaching and working in Australia.
“He has done some work with Pakistan and the England Lions, and he has extensive experience of county cricket here as a player.
“Obviously as a coach last year with Surrey as well, he’s seen lots of different backgrounds and lots of different environments.
“As you go through all of those different environments as a player and as a coach, you get to pick out what works and – more importantly – what doesn’t work.
“He’s just finishing off a doctorate in psychology so he’s very focused on that side of the game and making sure players are in the best spaces they can be.
“The environment is going to be really key for him in terms of creating that.
“All the reports when we went and spoke to lots of people about him and his coaching style was he’s about relationships. He’s about making sure players are happy – but they’re challenged – and they know what their roles and responsibilities are, and what’s required of them.
“It’s not just about making them happy, it’s about keeping them challenged and keeping them moving forwards.
“Ultimately, what he’s about is moving himself and people forwards.
“You can see from his career that’s what he did. He was constantly challenging himself.
“He went and did some MMA cage fighting and some boxing after cricket, and he’s now done a doctorate in psychology.
“He’s constantly challenging himself and that’s what he’ll want from this group of players.”
