PERTH, March 23: England all-rounder Ben Hollioake was killed in a car crash in the early hours of Saturday.

The 24-year-old Surrey player, who made Test appearances in August 1997 against Australia and a year later versus Sri Lanka, crashed on Mill Point Road in South Perth and died at the scene.

His sports car spun out of control and hit a brick wall just after midnight Perth time (1600 GMT), Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio reported.

South Perth cricket club president Ian Waite told local media Hollioake’s 22-year-old girlfriend Janaya Scholten was in a critical condition at Royal Perth hospital following the accident.

She suffered serious head and chest injuries, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Hollioake’s sister Eboni was one of the relatives in the second vehicle.

The brothers were believed to have been visiting their parents John and Daria.

Hollioake was visiting his parents on holiday after England’s One-day Internationals in New Zealand. England were beaten 3-2, but Hollioake did not play due to a knee injury sustained in India during the six-match one-day series which ended in a 3-3 draw.

The all-rounder, who had a 75-match first-class career, had just signed another year’s contract with Surrey after being courted by Warwickshire and was desperate to get back into the England team before next year’s World Cup.

Hollioake, whose older brother Adam is Surrey captain, was born in Melbourne on Nov 11, 1977 and made his Test debut in the same game as his brother — in the fifth Test against Australia at Nottingham’s Trent Bridge.

Regarded as more of a one-day specialist, he made his debut in One-day Internationals in 1997 scoring 63 at Lord’s against Australia in the third match of the series.

He played little until last summer’s recall to the England side for the triangular tournament with Pakistan and Australia. He scored 37 not out against Australia and shared a 70-run stand with Owais Shah in 7.2 overs in the game with Pakistan.

In his first-class career, he scored 2,794 runs at 25.87 and took 126 wickets at 33.45. In 20 One-day Internationals, he totalled 309 runs at 20.60 including two 50s. His 63 on debut was his highest score.—Reuters/AFP