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Former England cricket captain Adam Hollioake in court over £14m debts from failed property venture

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Down on his luck: Former England cricketer Adam Hollioake has appeared in an Australian court this week over £14m debts from a disastrous property venture

Former England cricket captain Adam Hollioake has become the latest sporting hero to be toppled by a failed property venture.

The ex-captain of the England one-day cricket team suffered a spectacular fall from grace this week, as he appeared in court over £14 million debts from a property venture that went wrong. 

Now bankrupt, the 40-year-old has even taken up cage fighting in an attempt to scrape some money together.

He follows in the footsteps of a host of sports stars declared bankrupt in recent months, including former England football player Lee Hendrie, former Newcastle defender Celestine Babayaro and former Manchester United player Eric Djemba-Djemba.

Hollioake captained Surrey between 1997 and 2003, winning three County Championships, and led the England team in one-day internationals. He also represented his country in Test matches.

Then in 2004 he gave up cricket and returned to Australia where he was born to go into business.

His father, John, suggested he could receive a salary of around £100,000 a year if he joined him in a property development company.

Hollioake had doubled his money on a house sale in 1994 and believed he could do it again. ‘I was a genius – or so I thought,’ he said.

  More... First-time buyers sleepwalking into negative equity Westlife's Shane Filan is the latest star declared bankrupt

But his venture soured, and this week Hollioake appeared in court to confirm how much money is owed to each of his 40 creditors.

From living a life of luxury, with more than one home on each side of the Australian continent, he and his family now own no property and are renting.

Hollioake said: ‘The lawyers representing the creditors  in court yesterday wanted to know where every cent had gone and it was not a pleasant experience. They wanted to know everything about my life, almost down to how many times I went to the toilet.’

In the ring: Hollioake has taken part in cage fighting in an attempt to scrape from money together, but say it hurts physically and doesn't pay that well

Love: Hollioake, pictured with his wife Sherryn in 2001. He has said his wife's love is far more precious than money during an interview with the Mail

There has been a sharp rise in sports stars and celebrities going bust, according to a leading expert in affluent bankruptcies.

Insolvency specialist Mark Sands, who is currently handling five bankruptcies of ex-Premiership stars, says insolvencies among former football stars are mounting despite the recent spiralling wages in the top flight.

'Quite often it's players who have failed to readjust their spending and lifestyles when their earnings fall towards the end of their career,' said Sands, head of the national bankruptcy team at RSM Tenon. 'But just as frequently it's because their investments have gone wrong.'

Jamaican Jason Euell, who started his career at Wimbledon, also met his downfall from the collapse of a property investment.

Other high-profile bankruptcies in the past five years have included John Arne Riise, ex Liverpool star, Brad Friedel, the Tottenham and USA goalkeeper, former Manchester and Northern Ireland player Keith Gillespie and former Liverpool and England winger John Barnes.

Failed property investment also left singer Shane Filan with £18 million of debts after his property empire crumbled.

Despite the Irish group selling 45million records, Filan was declared bankrupt last month.

In a statement, the pop star said he had 'worked long and hard' to tackle his debts and was devastated that his problems have come to this conclusion.

Filan owns Shafin Developments Limited with his brother Finbarr. It was involved in developments in Counties Leitrim and Sligo in Ireland but went into receivership a month ago. KPMG was  appointed as the receiver on behalf of the Ulster Bank.

Money woes: Footballer Lee Hendrie was recently declared bankrupt

Bemoaning his downfall, Hollioake said of his wife, Sherryn: ‘When we married I was captain of England, good looking, plenty of money, not a care in the world. Now she is married to a fat old guy, not good looking any more, and no money.’

In an interview with the Daily Mail after his court appearance, he said: ‘Those who grumble about losing some of their money have lost nothing against what I lost, which is everything.

‘But you know, there is one thing that no one can take away from me. And that is the love of my wife Sherryn and my three beautiful kids. That along with my health. Health and a wife’s love are far more precious than money.’

He added: ‘Cage fighting doesn’t pay all that well. It hurts, physically, at times, but I haven’t got my head knocked off yet.

Property debts: Shane Filan, pictured with his wife Gillian, was declared bankrupt in June

TV star: Miquita Oliver was declared bankrupt at the age of 27

‘But boy, do they love to boo me when I go into the ring. I’m a traitor to the Aussies, after all, having been born here and then ending up in the UK playing cricket for England. I’m less popular than the taxman.’

Since his bankruptcy, he said, attempts had been made ‘by enemies’ to paint him as a criminal, but he insisted: ‘I’m no crook. My life is an open book.’

He opened his wallet and added: ‘This is all I have left – just a few dollars. Yet there have been claims that I’ve ripped people off, run away with their money, got it all tucked away, secretly loaded myself up.

‘The truth is, I’ve been left with nothing. Nothing, that is, except the devotion of my wife, Sherryn, and the love of my kids.’

He said he was a victim of the global financial crisis, adding: ‘What happened was mostly out of my hands, although I accept that I did not apply the same professionalism in my business affairs as I did in my cricket.’

He now admits that he made a ‘massive error’.

His firm was liquidated in September 2010. Among his creditors is former England and Surrey teammate Alec Stewart, whose claim is estimated to be more than £400,000.

‘Alec understands the position I got myself into, as do the other creditors, apart from one who is determined to stamp me into the ground,’ Hollioake said.

‘There was another man I went into business with when I managed to get a TV show up and running on Channel Nine here in Australia.

‘Things didn’t go well between us – he ended up alienating my friends and business associates. Finally he tried to remove my wife as a director. I had to take him to court to put him back in his box.

‘But even though the court found in my favour and removed him from the directorship he in his anger accused me of stealing money.’

Heyday: Hollioake practices his bowling for an England match in Australia during 2002. He representing the country in both test matches and one day internationals

Royal meeting: Hollioake is given the county championship trophy by the Duke of Edinburgh after his county Surrey's victory in 2002

STARS WHO HAVE RUN INTO FINANCIAL RUIN...

The tendency for the 'rich' and famous to face money problems extends beyond sport.

RSM has been dealing with the bankruptcy of four members of the pop group UB40 and is now handling the insolvency of Derrick McKenzie, the drummer from Jamiroquai.

His bankruptcy comes even though he, along with frontman Jay Kay, is only one of two members to have been with the band and earning since the early Nineties. The band has sold 40million records, generating revenues of £320million, not including tours and merchandise.

Other high profile bankruptcies have included former Atomic Kitten singer and reality TV star Kerry Katona and TV presenter Miquita Oliver, aged 27, who faced a £170,000 unpaid tax bill.

Katona finally cleared her debts at the end of last year after being declared bankrupt in 2008 - it normally only takes one year to be discharged but she had failed to comply with the order.   

Hollioake showed the Mail a copy of a police search warrant which he said suggested he had indeed stolen cash. ‘Why else would the police want to draw up a search warrant?’ he said.

‘However, there is one problem with this document. It wasn’t signed, never executed. It was printed up as a result of a complaint by one of those working against me and of course the police had to get things rolling, but it didn’t get anywhere.’

Hollioake’s determination to fight the damage to his reputation was not helped when it was revealed that he had tried to leave the country without the permission of his bankruptcy trustee, and had been stopped by Australian Federal Police.

‘In fact, I had no idea I wasn’t allowed to leave after being declared bankrupt,’ he said.

‘I was actually on my way to Papua New Guinea to do some charity work, but when it was pointed out to me that travel was not allowed without explicit permission I realised I had made an innocent error.’

He added: ‘In two years I’ll be free of bankruptcy and the first thing I plan to do is to shake the hands of people who have lost money through my property ventures.

‘I am trying to establish whether I am legally entitled to try to pay them back after I  have been dismissed from bankruptcy but either way I feel very badly about what has happened and I hope that I can clear the air with those creditors one way or the other.’








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