The unlikely lads: When Hollioake’s England befuddled superstars to win the Champions Trophy
Against all odds, a team in transition, under new captain Adam Hollioake and a motley crew of county pros, somehow emerged as champions in the Akai-Singer 1997 Champions Trophy in Sharjah.
With a humiliating World Cup campaign and a chastening whitewash in Zimbabwe still fresh in the memory it was decided England’s one-day side needed a drastic change of approach ahead of the Champions Trophy in Sharjah.
England took the unprecedented step of splitting the captaincy with Mike Atherton stepping aside and Surrey’s sassy skipper Adam Hollioake taking on 50-over duties, but the new appointment and a squad packed full of bits-and-pieces cricketers, including county warhorses Matthew Fleming, Dougie Brown and Peter Martin, was greeted with suspicion and, by some, derision.
This rather motely crew were tipped as cannon fodder as they arrived to alien conditions in the UAE but they shocked India in the tournament opener as Fleming took four wickets on debut with his canny wobblers to bowl England to a seven-wicket win. Spirited wins against West Indies and Pakistan followed as England’s new-look bowling attack continued to befuddle opponents on the Sharjah dust-bowl and suddenly, against all expectations, they found themselves in the final.
England’s bowlers continued to impress in the final, with Mark Ealham snaffling Brian Lara and his Kent teammate Fleming picking up another three wickets to restrict West Indies to 235, but when they slumped to 165-6 in reply their hopes appeared to be fading fast.
Enter that man Fleming once again, as the 33-year-old used all the nous gathered from 14 years of county cricket to nurdle his way to 33 off 26 balls in a seven-over partnership of 70 with Graham Thorpe (66*) to secure a three-wicket win.
Graham Thorpe anchored a tricky run-chase in the final
Hollioake’s stint as skipper proved to be short-lived and he was relieved of the role before the 1999 World Cup, but from inauspicious beginnings this team had done something that no England team had done before them, and won an ICC tournament. They would have to wait for 13 years for another.
First published in November 2012.
