Diary of a Vegan Cricketer (Week One)

In January I ‘went Vegan’ or as I prefer to call it ‘plant based’ for two very simple reasons: I could not accept that any animal should suffer so that I could eat and drink, and I wanted a far healthier lifestyle.

Over the winter I worked really hard on sorting out the structural and mechanical issues with my body and started to do more work on my strength and mobility.

This is still very much a work in progress and the cricket season is going to be a good indication as to how things are going.

After a rather disjointed Off Season the plan was to start some serious outdoor training working on skills and stamina, and to put more effort into my diet. So far being plant based has been pretty easy, but I don’t really eat out these days, am happy with a ‘narrow’ food choice, although my recent trips to the apartment in Spain have highlighted how hard it is to be plant based in Almerimar, and that in general I need to put more effort into the range of food I eat.

As this is now officially the start of my season (schedule wise at least as the wet weather makes it hard to see the season starting much before May) the focus now is routine based around: parents, animals, playing, training, coaching and golf.

With the exception of an occasional red wine, whisky or tequila at home I am going dry and will be upping the focus on healthier eating as well as being plant based.

I hope to play as many Saturday, Sunday and Tuesdays as possible, practice on a Monday and Thursday, play gold Monday and Thursday and see my parents Monday, Wednesday and Friday (and no doubt they will come to a few games on a Saturday).

Add in daily stretching and exercises, some bike work to keep legs mobile, dog walks 4 or 5 times a week, and hopefully some time down at Edgbaston and it all looks like a very busy summer, one that will not include any cricket other Warwickshire County and T20!

2024 Season Week One: April 1st – April 7th

A week totally dominated by rain, as has been the case for sometime now!

So no Golf and apart from walking the dogs no outside training, although managed a good coaching session with a couple of teammates from the new NBCC LGBTQ+ team we have set up at Church Eaton and a really good batting session with a Staffordshire Seniors teammate at Hammerwich. We use a ball thrower and each do three sets of 60, so face equivalent of 30 overs each, a very good session. Week finished with a tremendous session at the Seat Unique Stadium in Bristol as part of the Gloucester T10 Team that I captain, where I had another long bat, did some bowling and learnt a lot from a great Level 4 Coach (Andrew) who also plays Over 60s Cricket for Gloucester. All in all a fairy decent week skill wise, and the old body held up well, although the back still not good on long car journeys, and the knees and left thigh still not as good as they need to be, although being indoors is never good for them.

No Boundaries took up a lot of the week as we announced the new LGBTQ+ Team, the captain Darrell, and my time coaching the Birmingham Unicorns ended as my skill and desire is to concentrate on working with motivated individuals who have the ability and attitude to develop. I have enjoyed my time with the Unicorns, wish them well, and have learnt a lot. A number of them have signed up with the NBCC LGBTQ+ team so I will be able to carry on working with them and I am looking for to this new project a lot.

I also started a series of conversations about the planned NBCC Disability team ….. but more on that later.

Cricket started at Edgbaston and I managed two good days: the first on my own catching up with a lot of people regarding NBCC, including Joe Leach from NEXX who handed over the kit bag they have donated.

Day two I spent with Sands which was a nice break, and although a shame that a day at the cricket is no longer an option for my parents, it was great to have time together and a lot of people asked after my parents which was nice.

Edgbaston was really the only test to the Vegan Diet this week, and it was a BIg FAIL! We take our own lunch, but tend to buy hot drinks. £2.25 for a tea bag and hot water is just stupid, so we will be adding tea bags to our’ lunch box’ in future, but the real disappointment was the coffee. They have two coffee machines but they both use milk. They do provide cartons of Vegan Milk, but as the machines dispense MILK, the only coffee option is a sachet. Would it really break the bank to have a third machine in the members lounge that only used vegan milk. The reason we take our own food is that there is no hot vegan option (and the sandwiches options in the fridge are from the 1970’s – replica plastic ham and cheese). Again, why not offer Vegan instead of Vegetarian as vegetarians will eat vegan? It really is the small things that demonstrate inclusivity, so for all the big statements and programs Edgbaston make, personally I think they are missing both the point and the opportunity.