Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham buys stake in Birmingham cricket team

England and Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham has bought a 1.2 per cent stake in the cricket team Birmingham Phoenix.The 22-year-old says he was keen to “give something back to the city” where he spent his childhood years as a footballer and will now help promote the sport in the area.Last year, the U.S. firm, Knighthead Capital Management, who own Bellingham’s former club, Birmingham City, bought 49 per cent of the Phoenix when the England and Wales Cricket Board auctioned off stakes in eight teams attached to the Hundred franchise — a UK-based professional league that uses the 100-ball format.Advertisement