BBC SPORT | Special Events | 2001 | B and H Cup Final

BBC Sport Online profiles Surrey's Ben Hollioake, following his Man of the Match award in the B&H Cup final.

Ben Hollioake's innings in the B&H Cup final against Gloucestershire merely proved what many people already knew.

It proved that here was a young player of immense natural ability, who is capable of producing the goods on the big occasion.

Hollioake's 73 off 76 balls included two sixes and four fours and helped rescue his side from a precarious position at 118 for five.

Turn back the clock four years and you would see the then 19-year-old Hollioake leading Surrey to victory at Lord's with a superb 98 against Kent.

Two months earlier, at the same ground, he had blasted the vaunted Australian attack to all parts in his one-day international debut.

Ben Hollioake batting in the 1997 B&H Cup final
Hollioake just missed a hundred in the 1997 final
Coming in at number three, he smashed 63 off just 48 balls, but in hindsight it was the worst thing to happen to Hollioake.

His precocious talents were instantly compared to those of Ian Botham and like so many would-be successors to England's greatest all-rounder, he suffered under the weight of expectation.

The newspapers praised his natural talents, with one calling him Ben Hur and perhaps the most naturally gifted cricketer they had seen.

He earned a Test call-up in the Ashes in the same season, charged with wresting back the initiative for the home side and the burden proved too great.

In his only other Test, against Sri Lanka in 1998, he failed to make a lasting impression.

His one-day career went the same way, and he could not make another half-century in six further appearances for England.

The last of those was on his ill-fated tour of Australia and if he was hoping to bounce straight back a poor 1999 season was followed by an even worse one last year.

Hollioake plays a hook shot against Pakistan
Back in the England squad for the NatWest Series

He limped with the bat averaging a mere 10.92 and his bowling was an expensive with his wickets costing 37 runs each.

But this season he at last shook off the inhibitions.

A run of good scores earned him a recall to the England squad for the triangular NatWest Series.

The tournament was a diaster for the team, but Hollioake served notice of a more mature outlook as well as confirming that the natural strokeplay which had first brought him to the notice of the selectors was still intact.

He made a quickfire 37 not out off 26 balls against Australia at Bristol and he atoned for a rare Lord's failure against Pakistan, where he was bowled first ball by Waqar Younis, by taking 53 off the same attack at Leeds.

Surrey have shown plenty of patience with Hollioake - and the presence of elder brother Adam as captain may be one of the reasons for that.

His latest performance at Lord's showed that patience has not been wasted.