Former Surrey and England one-day captain Adam Hollioake is reported to be about to hold discussions with Essex over playing for them in this year's Twenty20 Cup, according to a report in today's Guardian.

The move stems from Hollioake's appearance in a beach-cricket tournament in Australia in January which left Graham Gooch impressed. "I played pretty well and Goochie said I was good enough and young enough to play county cricket again," Hollioake told The Guardian from his home in Perth. "Later, when he got home, he sent me an email asking if I'd be interested. I am. Nothing has been confirmed yet. We're still talking. But it's not the worst idea in the world."

Essex's chief executive, David East, confirmed to Cricinfo that the talks were taking place. "We have had some initial discussions with Adam and are jointly exploring the possibility of him playing Twenty20 cricket for us."

Hollioake will be in the UK next week to attend a charity event and is expected to chat to Essex officials then. He admitted that he was approached by Nottinghamshire a while back but nothing came of it.