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Casual observers of cricket two years ago could have been forgiven for thinking that the Hollioake brothers had been earmarked to take England gloriously into the new millennium. Anyone might wonder what has happened since then.

The question of where exactly England think they are going and what has happened to Adam and Ben Hollioake, the men who pulverised the 1997 Australians on their joint debut in the one-day series, is worth asking.

The NatWest Trophy quarter-final at Northampton today should answer the question of the Hollioakes, and there are several England reputations at stake in this 'pressure' match.

Surrey have the championship and trophy double in their sights. Adam Hollioake regards the NatWest Trophy as crucial to the summer because two more titles would give Surrey a full hand of four in three seasons, all effectively under Hollioake's captaincy. Their big lead in the championship, 34 points, is unlikely to be pulled back as it was last summer.

Hollioake, a man of clear-eyed confidence, invited derision last year when he lost the England one-day captaincy and then had the championship crown dashed from his hands by Leicestershire in the final match of the season.

``That hurt more than anything,'' he said yesterday. ``I always thought of myself as a winner. So last year was a huge blow to my confidence. I'd be lying if I said it hadn't affected me. It was a strange year, and the fact I'd received so much attention in 1997 highlighted it all the more.''

Hollioake's batting returns last year were on paper respectable ``I'm an optimistic person, and you don't want people constantly reminding you they thought you'd had a nightmare'' - but he has discovered that deteriorating eyesight could have caused the dips in form.

He has an appointment with an optician in Wimbledon next Monday to buy a contact lens for his dominant right eye. ``I've just found out I've got very poor eyesight,'' he said. ``I knew I wasn't sighting the ball as quickly as I have done. The optician, who is a sports person, said the deterioration might not bother someone walking down the street but, to a guy facing a projectile coming down at 90mph, it does.''

Hollioake and his brother Ben want their England places back, and three current Surrey upper-order batsmen - Mark Butcher, Alec Stewart and Graham Thorpe - are under scrutiny for their recent performances against New Zealand.

Adam on Ben: ``People forget he's still only 21. Being the young guy he is harder to deal with. His confidence is a bit down. If you ask people within Surrey they'll say he's starting to come on nicely.

``He's a sensible kid, and he's starting to understand what he needs to become successful. He has got to do the hard work. Before, he went out, played and was successful. He had no fear.''

Northamptonshire have seven consecutive one-day wins under their belt, including a five-run success over Surrey in the CGU National League at Wantage Road. They beat also Surrey by four wickets at the Oval in April.

Jacques Kallis, the South Africa all-rounder, announced his presence in the Glamorgan side with his National League 155 not out against Surrey at Pontypridd on Saturday, and he said this week he was hoping to start bowling again after his stomach muscle injury.

With Gloucestershire possibly distracted by their forthcoming Super Cup final appearance at Lord's next Sunday, Kallis's presence should inspire Glamorgan to a much-needed win at Cardiff.

A crowd of well over 10,000 is expected at Old Trafford, where Lancashire take on Yorkshire in the match to be televised on Channel 4.

Andrew Caddick, one of the few England players with an enhanced reputation, returns to strengthen Somerset against Kent at Taunton.

Warwickshire are bracing themselves to lose Allan Donald, their South Africa fast bowler, for the rest of the season while he rests an ankle injury.

Adam Dale, the Queensland seam bowler, has been drafted into Australia's one-day squad for next month's tour of Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe to replace Paul Reiffel, who has announced his retirement.

Michael Carberry, of Surrey, has replaced the injured David Harrison in the England Under-19 squad for the forthcoming one-day series with Australia.

Derbyshire have signed Kasir Shah, 21, a left-arm seamer from Warwickshire, and James Pyemont, the Cambridge University batsman.