Hollioake led England to victory in Sharjah in 1997

"I have always been involved in winning sides. Which is why it hurts more when I'm not involved in winning sides, but I've got something to fall back on to know what it takes."

But what else would you expect from a man born and, to his teenage years, brought up in Melbourne, Australia.

Importantly, however, it was not in Australia that Hollioake learnt the art of winning.

Whereas last year Surrey won matches - a good many of them without Pakistani spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, who was on World Cup duty - without quite knowing how they did it, this year, Hollioake said, they did so by conforming to a plan.

Understanding

"When I say that we have an understanding of what we need to win it is nothing revolutionary," he insists. "It is having the confidence to know that if we do certain things well, we will win.

"This is probably more enjoyable because we now know what it is like to win a championship whereas last year we didn't."

So what is the secret?

"Scoring at three runs an over and being positive with the bat; it's about cashing in and hurting sides by turning 40s and 50s into hundreds; being miserly with the ball, making sure you go for two runs an over or less.

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"You do that then you build pressure on sides and the wickets will come. They are the two bases on which we are trying to win the championship. There is nothing revolutionary to it. It's doing the basics better than other sides.

"It's something I've been talking to the second team about. You also have to make it happen. It doesn't just fall out of the sky. You have to take pride in your team, whether you are captain or player. You can't allow mediocrity.

"To be a championship-winning side, you have to say, 'Diving catches, I'm don't just hope to hold on to it, I'm going to take that diving catch and if I don't I am going to be very disappointed'.

Standard

"It's about setting the standard. When I get a run-out, I'm going to hit the stumps from side on, not just throw the ball and hope it hits.

"There is a difference between going out and winning a game of cricket and understanding why you won a game of cricket, and then being able to repeat it.

"You can win a game of cricket and not understand what you have done and then go out and make mistakes.

"You have to learn what the goods things we did are. It's actually an easier time to learn when you have done well than having a go at people when they have not done so well."

The learning experience goes on at The Oval, and they will surely start as firm favourites for a third Championship triumph next summer.