Five cricketers who went bankrupt

These cricketers found it hard to make ends meet post retirement

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Chris Cairns
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Chris Cairns of New Zealand leaves the field. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)

Chris Cairns
Chris Cairns of New Zealand leaves the field. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)

There have been many players who have made a career out of nothing. They earned money by playing good cricket on the field and made a living. But this article is about five players who had everything once upon a time and then went on to become bankrupt. Cricketers these days are paid heavily and a player is guaranteed of a financially sound future after retirement. But a few years back, cricketers hit poverty after retirement due to ineffective management of their wealth.

Here’s the list of 5 cricketers who went bankrupt:

1.Adam Hollioake:

Paul Strang
Adam Hollioake of England. (Mandatory Credit: Stu Forster /Allsport)

Adam John Hollioake was an England all-rounder who also captained Surrey from 1997 to 2003. He was one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2003. He played 39 matches for England and announced his international retirement in 1999. However, he continued playing club cricket until 2007. He went on to claim 9 trophies in his time as Surrey captain making him one of the most successful 1st class captains of all time.

Post-retirement, Hollioake moved to Australia to take care of his family business. Initially, he earned huge amounts of profits but then the recession hit the world and his organization lost financial stability. The company was dissolved in 2009 and was declared bankrupt in 2011. Adam turned to Mixed Martial Arts to make a living thereafter.

2.Graeme Pollock: 

Graeme Pollock
Graeme Pollock. (Photo Source: Getty Images)

Pollock was a left-handed batsman for South Africa who played 23 test matches. His international career was cut short by the sporting boycott of South Africa. Despite playing international cricket only till the age of 26, Pollock broke a number of records. His career average of 60.97 is the fourth best after Sir Donald Bradman’s (99.94), Adam Voges’ (61.87) and Steve Smith’s (61.37) averages.

Pollock faced a financial crunch two years ago after he suffered losses close to 250000 dollars as his brokerage business failed. He was then diagnosed with colon cancer, Parkinson’s disease and also suffered a heart attack. Pollock was in danger of losing his house and his agent requested the BCCI and the IPL franchises to help the 72-year-old cricketer.

3.Paul Strang:

Paul Strang
Paul Strang. (Photo Source: Getty Images/Clive Mason /Allsport)

Strang was a well-known leg-spinner in the mid-90s. He was a regular member in the Zimbabwe side and often troubled the batsmen with his googlies. He played 75 matches for Zimbabwe and took 102 wickets. However, political turmoils after him and forced him to stay away from the game.

He suffered heavy financial losses and had contemplated suicide too. He was put in jail for rebelling and took up yoga to get back to normal life. “It was a terrible time in our lives. I was a white man who believed in harmony, somebody who wanted to be a monk in the Himalayas before I got fascinated by cricket. But all that changed when our lands were taken away from us. My anger made me rebel against the law.” Strang was quoted by the Indian Express in 2010.

4.Matthew Sinclair:

Mathew Sinclair
Mathew Sinclair of New Zealand walks off the field. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

Sinclair was a right-handed batsman who represented New Zealand cricket team. He holds the world record for e highest test score(214) by a No.3 batsman on test debut. He achieved this feat in 1999 against the West Indies in Boxing Day test. However, he failed to maintain his form and scored only 1304 runs in 54 ODI games. He quit international cricket in 2013 and became a salesman since then.

Sinclair’s lack of education did not help as he failed to get a lucrative job. He provided bread and butter to his family with the salesman job. Last year, he had run away with two children that sparked a manhunt. He was later found at a nearby restaurant.

5.Chris Cairns:

Chris Cairns
Chris Cairns of New Zealand leaves the field. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)

Cairns is a former New Zealand cricketer who played as an allrounder. He played over 270 matches for New Zealand and scored more than 8000 runs while taking 419 wickets. In 2000, he was named as one of five Wisden Cricketers of the Year.

In 2013, he found himself in the middle of match-fixing scandals. The legal costs were so high that Cairns took the job of cleaning bus shelters to bear the expenses. In 2014, he was also charged with perjury in England. Cairns finished his career with a batting average of 33.53 and a bowling average of 29.40.

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