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Fish or chicken, tea or coffee – what do cricketers eat during breaks in Tests?
In a five-day Test match, there are two breaks between the three sessions every day—lunch break and tea break. Many people may wonder what cricketers eat during these breaks. England’s top-order batsman Ollie Pope has given some insight into this to his fans. Pope spoke about this in a video podcast on Sky Sports. He has played in all three matches of the ongoing England-India Test series. He scored a century in England’s first innings in the first Test at Headingley. Pope said what he eats during lunch and tea breaks in Tests. Pope said what he eats during the breaks depends on whether he is going to bat or not. That means when he comes for a break from batting, he eats one kind of food and when he is fielding, the menu changes. In Pope’s words, ‘I usually eat chicken, fish or steak with pasta—I try to fuel my body as much as possible. Of course, when I am batting, I don’t eat too much food. For some reason, the body does not want to take more (food) than necessary.’ Pope then said, ‘(When batting) so I eat a simple protein shake and a banana. If I bat all day, then I eat almost nothing all day. Because, with so much (batting) it is difficult. So I eat at the end of the day’s game.’
Fish or chicken, tea or coffee – what do cricketers eat during breaks in Tests?
Pope also said what the players eat during the tea break, ‘Some people like tea. I usually take coffee. If the (game starts) is delayed due to rain or some other reason, I sometimes drink tea.’
Pope scored 186 runs in 6 innings at an average of 31 in 3 Tests in the series. After his century at Headingley, he did not score big runs like that. He was dismissed for 0 and 24 runs at Edgbaston. He scored 44 and 4 runs at Lord’s. England are currently leading the series 2-1. The fourth Test will start in Manchester next Wednesday.
