Perth: At 43, one would have expected Adam Hollioake to have mellowed down a bit from the aggressive attitude he held as England's ODI cricket captain that saw him lead his country to victory in the 1997 Champions Trophy in Sharjah, then England's first tournament success in a decade. However, he's far from calm. "England are playing a load of rubbish," Hollioake, now settled in Brisbane, told mid-day yesterday.


England captain Adam Hollioake kisses the Champions Trophy at Sharjah in 1997. Pic/Getty Images 

"England will need a miracle to win this World Cup. They're just not playing well at the moment. They are not looking confident at all and that's the reason they lost so badly in their first two matches (lost to Australia by 111 runs and lost to New Zealand by eight wickets). They have not done well in both the batting as well as bowling departments, so I don't see them going very far in this tournament," added former all-rounder Hollioake, who played four Tests and 35 ODIs for England of which he led in 14 one-dayers.