Adam Hollioake, a former England and Surrey captain, who had a brief period of leading the country in the Sharjah Cup in 1997, admitted that he had to resort to cage fighting after losing all his money in 2010. The crisis was sudden but it was like a house built of bricks by the Melbourne-born.
Hollioake was last seen on a cricket field in 2004. Then he had already been leading Surrey for a period of 173 first-class matches with success since his debut in 1996. The all-rounder played a total of 35 One-Day matches for England and scored 606 runs taking 32 wickets.
Although not so glorious, Hollioake was a celebrated name in his time before he changed his career for a completely new venture that completely altered his life.
Ex-PAK coach makes huge confession on his life
"All of a sudden, from having all the money I needed and the glory of being an England captain and everyone doing everything for me, there I was, 40 years old, trying to look after my kids and not knowing how I was going to pay my rent or any bills that came in," said Hollioake in the PCA magazine.
Hollioake's confession was a harsh one that touched the glorious life of an England cricket captain who had taken up charity work after retiring 21 years back.
Interestingly, Hollioake had a good property portfolio that should have kept him for a long time, yet the charity worker found himself bankrupt after the global property crash in 2008.
Hollioake was totally dependent on the Hollioake Group, his company, for his retirement funds but a lawsuit against the businessman led to the liquidation of the company that had debts of about £13 million.
Hollioake turned to professional boxing to stay alive
Hollioake desperate to stay alive, took up another sport and participated in the professional boxing circuit in Brisbane in 2011. Hollioake not only boxing but also swerved to mixed martial arts and cage fighting to support his family.
"Getting into a cage and fighting another person is nothing when compared to the fear of not being able to take care of your family. For me, that is the scariest thing I have ever gone through. It has been One hell of a ride, and it has also been quite scary," said Hollioake.
Moreover, Adam in 2017 laid down his boxing gloves and took coaching stints, and in 2023 during the Australia tour, he became a batting coach with Pakistan.
Just a year later, Hollioake became the assistant coach of Surrey, and in December 2024, the 54-year-old signed a three-year contract with Kent as the head coach of the team.