Former England all-rounder Dermot Reeve reveals financial struggles

Former England all-rounder Dermot Reeve has revealed his financial struggles and explained he sold his Wisden Cricketer of the Year Almanack so he could fund visits to his children in Sydney.

Reeve, who made 32 appearances for England and skippered Warwickshire to six trophies in three seasons, was one of five players to be honoured by Wisden in 1996 for his contribution to the previous English summer.

However, having quit a post-retirement punditry role with Channel 4 due to a cocaine addiction, his life spiralled out of control and the 54-year-old recently put his leather-bound and personalised Wisden accolade up for sale.

“I don’t collect books,” he told the BBC. “It was an honour to receive it (but) if there’s someone out there who collects Wisdens, would treasure it and add it to their collection, and I would actually end up with some funds that would pay for a couple of trips to see my kids in Sydney, that was the main reason.

“I don’t own a house, let alone a bookcase to put a Wisden in. It wasn’t an easy thing to part with.”

Reeve, who was born in Hong Kong and now lives in Perth, Australia, choked up as he explained the book is now back in his possession due to a friend’s generosity.

“In a different world I’d have kept hold of it and passed it on to my son,” he added. “The guy who actually bought it was a friend of mine from Hong Kong that I played in Hong Kong with. He’s gifted it back to me.

“It was just a decision on financial grounds. It’s probably been publicised that I made the stupid mistake one day of thinking if I took a line of cocaine that it wouldn’t be something that would ruin my life or get out of control, but unfortunately it did. My world spiralled through quite a dark place where I lost my job and marriage.

“I’ve been clean for over four years now but I wouldn’t want to be put in its company or a situation where it was around.”