5 Cricketers who took interesting professions after retirement

Unlike other professions, the life of a sportsperson, especially a cricketer, is brief. When you reach the age of thirty, the critics will be prepared to point fingers at your performances, and if you have a few mediocre ones, you will be kicked off the squad. After retiring, many cricket players who had enjoyed life to the fullest while playing had to fight to make ends meet.

Advertisment

But after retiring, several cricket players have chosen to pursue different careers after giving it some thought; some even doubt their own credibility. As a result, some of them have taken up some interesting careers after retirement. Let us take a look at five such players.

David Sheppard turned into A Bishop

David Sheppard played county cricket for Sussex. He scored three centuries while playing for England in 22 Test matches. Sheppard had an incredible first-class career, playing in 230 games and scoring up to 45 centuries. After the war, he was considered by many to be among the top county cricket batsmen. 

Advertisment

After his career as a cricketer ended, he became one of the most outspoken bishops in the Church of England. Sheppard fought cancer for a long time before passing away in 2005.

Chris Lewis became involved in smuggling.

A versatile player, although his career did not take off, Chris Lewis was once referred to as the next Ian Botham. Lewis took 93 wickets in 32 Test matches for England. On August 26, 1996, he played his final Test match against Pakistan. When Lewis was found guilty in 2009 of smuggling liquid cocaine worth over £140,000 into Britain in fruit juice tins concealed in his cricket bags, he shocked the cricket community by receiving a 13-year prison sentence.

Advertisment

Truck driver Chris Cairns

Chris Cairns, one of the best all-around players of the 1990s, now has to do manual labour for a living. The former Black Caps cricket player, who now makes $17 per hour driving trucks or cleaning bus shelters, is the quintessential riches-to-rags tale.

In order to help his team win games on his own, Cairns took on a lot of responsibility, which greatly influenced Kiwi cricket for good. But after becoming embroiled in a match-fixing scandal and going bankrupt, he started working as a truck driver.

Ambrose Curtly picked up the bass guitar

Curtley Ambrose and Courtney Walsh were unstoppable forces in the 1990s. The bowling combination of Ambrose and Walsh was excellent for the West Indies, even though their batting lineup was a little weaker. In 98 Test matches, Ambrose claimed 405 wickets at an average of 20.99. He has also claimed 225 ODI victims in 176 Windies contests.

Following his retirement in 2000, Ambrose pursued his lifelong dream of becoming a bass guitarist for the Antiguan reggae band "Dread and The Baldhead," and followed his ever-growing passion for finding a life in music.

Jack Russell as a painter

For England, Jack Russell was a competent batsman and wicketkeeper. The Gloucestershire native scored 1,897 runs and made 165 dismissals throughout his ten-year test career. After retiring from cricket, Russell, who had always had a strong interest in art, founded The Jack Russell Gallery. His subjects include members of the English nobility, athletes like Dickie Bird and Sir Bobby Charlton, and musicians like Eric Clapton. 

For a former cricket player, painting as a career is already unique, but Russell had one more surprise in store. He would start working as the goalkeeping coach for the Forest Green Rovers Football Club in 2007.

Stay updated with the latest cricket news, match insights, and exclusive updates at Sky247 India and download the Sky247 app to start betting today!