5 cricketers who took up interesting professions after retiring from cricket

Ernest Hemingway once said, Retirement is the ugliest word in the language. Ask a cricketerand he will probably tell you that it is instead a dreaded one. Unlike other professions, the career of a cricketer has a short shelf-life. Hit 30 years of age and you are branded an oldie and a veteran.A couple of average performances and a handful of rookies are lined up as replacements. Before you know whats hit you, you are deemed past your prime and packed off into the archives. Sudden or gradual, retirement looms large over a cricketers career. And often, when the end is around the corner, a journalist pops the inevitable question to an unsuspecting cricketer what would you do after retirement?With an endless list of opportunities, international cricketers over the years have applied their on-field acumen off of it as well to carve out successful careers post retirement. With commentating, coaching, administration and umpiring being the usual suspects, the non-cricketing career post retirement continues to be the path less traversed.We take a look at some of those that looked beyond cricket after calling it a day.

#1 Adam Hollioake

Once captain of the England ODI team, Adam Hollioake later became an MMA fighter.

In the late nineties, as an unconventional all-rounder from Surrey, Adam Hollioake flourished well enough to lead England to a Sharjah Cup title in 1997.

After retirement in 2004, he ran the Ben Hollioake Fund (in memory of his deceased younger brother) and a property business in Australia in parallel. Unfortunately for Hollioake, the property business ran into trouble and he appeared in court bankrupt and A$20 million of pounds in debt. Not one to go down without a fight, he took up professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighting in 2012.

#2 Dilip Doshi

Dilip Doshi evolved into a successful businessman

Former Indian left-arm spinner Dilip Doshi was one of just four bowlers to make a Test debut after thirty years of age. When his Test career ended after 114 wickets from 33 matches, Doshi entered the world of business.

Through his family’s firm Entrack International, Doshi introduced the Mont Blanc luxury pens to India in 1994 and for the next 20 years marketed them across 17 boutique stores across India.

#3 Andrew Flintoff

Flintoff morphed from a fast bowling all-rounder to a boxer

Andrew Flintoff was charismatic both with bat and ball. An 11-year Test career with England saw him bag 226 wickets and score 3,845 runs. When he did decide to call it a day, he would take his physical strength to another sport - boxing.

In a move that was chronicled in a Sky TV documentary, “Freddie” recovered from being knocked down to win on points in his debut bout in 2012. Flamboyant both on and off the pitch, in March 2015, Flintoff went on to win the first Australian edition of “I am a Celebrity….Get Me Out of Here!”.

#4 Jack Russell

An art-lover, Jack Russell opened an art gallery

Jack Russell was a handy wicket-keeper batsman for England. In a decade long test career, the man from Gloucestershire executed 165 dismissals while scoring 1,897 runs. A private person outside the game, Russel was always passionate about art and post his cricket-retirement opened a gallery called The Jack Russell Gallery.

He paints on a wide range of subjects including wildlife, military and sports. Those sitting for his portraits include English royalty, musicians such as Eric Clapton and sporting icons like Dickie Bird and Sir Bobby Charlton.

If painting as a profession is unusual enough for a former cricketer, Russell had another surprise up his sleeve. In 2007, he would take up a position with the Forest Green Rovers Football Club as their goalkeeping coach.

#5 Brett Lee

As a charming presenter, actor and NGO worker, Brett Lee has made a smooth transition from his days as a fast bowling pro

When the speedster from New South Wales hung up his boots in January this year after a 20 year first-class career, he finished as Australia's fourth-most successful Test match bowler with 310 wickets from 76 Test matches.

Always sporting an infectious smile and never shy of displaying his musical abilities, Lee had embraced showbiz even when he wore the baggy green.

With more time at his disposal now, Lee has been the co-host of the travel show “Getaway” with former Miss Australia Jesinta Campbell. The show aired on Fox Life earlier this year. He also runs a foundation called Mewsic that aims to educate and empower underprivileged Indian children through music. Never camera shy and short of options in showbiz, Lee will be playing a major role in the soon to be released Bollywood flick titled UnINDIAN.