Cricketer to cage-fighter

Glad the BBC has finally started to acknowledge MMA, even if it is Australian MMA. Let's just hope he's not going down the Jose Canseco route.

Adam Hollioake vs Sony Bill Williams..now that is a fight that would sell!!

Almost £650 a WEEK for one adult and 3 children for FOOD. What are they eating? Zebras and giraffes?!?! Crazy.

I might declare myself bankrupt then. We manage on $600 a week and I feed the wife as well.

Probably not the most common hobby to take up for a cricketer but fair play to him. I do think the £650 is a bit steep for a weeks shopping, I don't spend that in a month on food!

Good luck with the fight though and hopefully the BBC will report on whether or not he wins.

Also, hope that his brother's Memorabilia is all returned safely to where it belongs! Scum that took it!

Never got the media fascination of these two. Tragic what happened to his brother etc. But both flattered to decieve imvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvho at cricket (says me!! :-) ) and now we should get excited about some 40 year old guy making an MMA debut??

Hmm. Not sure.

"I've always been an impatient person. That's why I struggled in Test matches.....'"

This is the only reason, I can see, that Hollioake struggled in tests!!!

The Aussie $ has gone from over 3 to the pound to 1.5 to the pound in a few years - mainly due to the foreign exchange brought in by mining companies. $1000 Aussie doesn't buy you any more in Australia now than it did when it was worth 300 quid. So comparison with sterling is pretty meaningless. Was it Hollioake who was sledged by Mark Waugh on his way to the crease "Mate, you're not good enough to play for England" and replied "Maybe not but at least I'm the best at cricket in my family !"

Fingers crossed he gets sparked.

@TimRick

That was one of the best cricket sledges ever - but it didnt involve Hollioake. It actually occured when little-known England batsman James Ormond (who?) arrived at the crease during a Test match in 2001. Mark Waugh said

"Look who it is. Mate, what are you doing out here? There's no way you're good enough to play for England."

Quick as you like, Ormond said:

"Maybe not, but at least I'm the best player in my family."

Fabulous

Jimmy Ormond was a bowler, and he really was quite rubbish..... anytime I think England are doing badly these days I think back to the early-mid nineties (well pretty much the whole of the nineties to be honest!!) and I realise it's not all that bad ;)

Fat Jimmy was never an international but he’ll always be remembered for that line, fantastic. As I recall he did pretty well for the brown hatters when they were buying Championships a few years ago and Hollioake was a giant for them despite also being short of top class. A good example of how much central contracts and an independent coaching structure have done for the England team.

£647 per week on food??? How much do they eat in his house?

I think the line about food was a joke (Adam's a famously big eater) but has been lost somewhere over the pacific. I remember the first time I saw Ben play for Surrey and thinking he had everything. He was an athlete with so much natural ability. Adam was not as blessed but was a fantastic captain. Both had that laid-back, Aussie attitude to life. It comes across in what Adam says even about going bankrupt. Good luck to him.

I don't think he spends a lot on food per week. Mind you, me and my family have a particular penchant for unicorn fillets.

Blimey a cage-fighting blog!

I think Tuffers ought to give it a go.

Just wanted to add my 2pence worth about the Waugh sledge.

All things considered it would have been an odd thing for Adam to say. His late brother Ben was far more gifted at cricket than Adam. If the sledge took place after Ben's death then it would've fallen very flat.

13 & 17 - Read the responses before you comment, not that many of them!

What is the great attraction with Hollioake taking up MMA. Australian cage fighting is the same as British cage fighting and American wrestling - fixed. It is not a sport it is "sports entertainment" (and not really very entertaining anyway).

In the article, he made light of the fact he put on weight recently.

It is fairly obvious to even the most hard of thinking observer that the $1000AUS feeding him and his three kids for a mere week was a self deprecating dig at his gastronomic propensity.

And it's to his credit.

19. - You clearly havent watched MMA? American Wrestling yes - but not MMA!

19: Do you know what MMA is? American("Professional") Wrestling is fixed, but still very physical. MMA is a REAL fight and INCREDIBLY physical.

650 pounds is a pretty average amount for food with a family of 5 in Australia. If you think that is bad, pints can be 7 pounds and a pub/restaurant standard meal is 15 pounds. Then again, Australian can't complain as students can earn 18 pounds an hour working in a bar.

if he just started BJJ training last year he is still gonna be pretty vulnerable.

It's sad to read that Hollioake has fallen on hard times. Perhaps Surrey could arrange some sort of benefit match for an ex-captain that did so much for the county.