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Bankrupt ex-England captain took up MMA and cage fighting to survive after £13m debt

Soumyajit Dutta

Adam Hollioake [Source: @surreycricket/X.com]Adam Hollioake [Source: @surreycricket/X.com]

Adam Hollioake, a former England and Surrey captain who had a stint of leading the nation in the Sharjah Cup in 1997, confessed resorting to cage fighting after going bankrupt in the year 2010. The sudden crisis was, however, built brick by brick by the Melbourne-born.

Hollioake last featured on a cricket field in 2004, as he led a successful tenure with Surrey in 173 first-class matches after his debut in 1996. For England, the all-rounder played 35 One-Day matches, where he garnered 606 runs and 32 wickets.

Though not so glorious, Hollioake was a celebrated name in his era before he switched his career for a completely new venture that changed his life forever.

Ex-PAK coach makes huge confession on his life

"All of a sudden, from having all the money I needed and the accolades 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 be able to pay my rent or any bills that came in," Hollioake told the PCA magazine.

Hollioake's confession was a brutal one that scratched the glorious life of an England cricket captain who took up charity work after calling it quits 21 years ago.

Interestingly, Hollioake had a reputable property portfolio that could have sustained him for long, yet the charity worker found himself bankrupt after the global property crash in 2008. 

Hollioake solely depended on Hollioake Group, his company, for retirement money; however, a businessman's lawsuit led to the liquidation of the company, which held debts of around £13 million.

Hollioake took up professional boxing to survive

Desperate to survive, Hollioake took up another sport and appeared in the professional boxing circuit in Brisbane in 2011. Hollioake also jumped the ropes and swerved to mixed martial arts and cage fighting to run his family.

"Stepping into a cage and fighting another man is nothing compared to the fear of not being able to look after your family. For me that is the scariest thing I have ever been through. It's been one hell of a ride, and it's been pretty scary," Hollioake confessed.

Notably, Adam put down his boxing gloves in 2017 and took up coaching stints and also became a batting coach with Pakistan in 2023 for the Australia tour.

Just a year later, Hollioake joined Surrey as an assistant coach, and in December 2024, the 54-year-old signed a three-year deal with Kent as the head coach of the team.