The England A captain, no shrinking violet on other matters, becomes almost coy when it is suggested to him that with application and dedication he could fill the crucial position that has eluded England since Ian Botham stepped down.
To talk now of the 25-year-old in terms of ``another Botham'' would be irresponsible, yet he has many of the attributes of the other man, not least his enviable knack of making things happen when he comes on with his medium pace.
Hollioake can provide variety and a fresh approach to a jaded attack. Here he has won the nickname of ``Golden Arm'' for his trick of breaking partnerships or wrapping up the tail.
On this tour, Hollioake has taken 15 wickets. In two one-day games he has figures of six for 76; in five four-day matches (two of them first-class) he has nine for 147.
At home, Hollioake last summer took a record 36 Sunday League wickets for Surrey. He will own up to being a one-day all-rounder yet categorically says: ``No, I am a batsman who bowls a bit at Championship level. Nothing more. Not a genuine all-rounder.''
In the Canberra game, where England came so close to an astonishing win, Hollioake collected wickets in clusters, two when Australian Capital Territory were resisting on the third evening, then two more in successive balls to end their long innings late on the last day. Yet, in between he sent down a mere four overs.
Hollioake puts that down in part to the other pressures of captaincy, yet concedes that he may have erred on the side of caution in his use of bowlers in ACT's second innings.
You sense that the ambition is there - after all, he admires noone more than one of the world's best all-rounders Steve Waugh and you can see much of Waugh in Hollioake's vigorous, combative approach.
What prize beyond measure - both for the player and for England it would be if he could apply himself with the ball as much as he does with the bat.
Hollioake's opposite number in the Canberra game, ACT captain Mike Veletta, has been suspended for a month for dissent and denigration of the umpires.
England Under 19 slow left-arm bowler Dean Cosker took five wickets for just 14 runs, and Ben Hollioake three for 30 as the home team collapsed to 82 all out in Sahiwal, India, yesterday.
England openers Chris Read (73) and Ian Flanagan (30) built a solid foundation for the seconds innings, and Hollioake, rapidly becoming a central figure on this tour, capitalised with a fine half-century before falling in the last over of the day with England 211 for six, a lead of 324.