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Introduction

If you are going to be training hard in the gym, at training sessions, and have a busy playing schedule then you are going to need to re-fuel yourself properly. And this means both in terms of your food intake, and also your fluid intake – nutrition and hydration are two of the three ‘Pillars of Recovery’, with good quality sleep being the third.

If you do have a busy training and playing schedule, then you are likely to be breaking down more muscle tissue through exercise than the normal sedentary human, which means you need a bit more protein in your diet to help build the muscles back up. The simplest way to think about nutrition, is the third of a plate theory –meaning that you should try to get a third of your plate as a decent lean source of protein (eg. chicken/turkeybreast, fish, prawns) a third carbohydrate (e.g. pasta,rice, potato) and a third vegetables or salad (preferably a variety of colours for different sources of goodness!).

24 hours before the match

Try to get several good meals in which comply withthe ‘third of a plate’ rule, in order to give you a store of carbohydrate and protein. Have at least 2-3 litres of fluid during the day.

Morning of the match

Have some cereal or porridge with some fruit (porridge with banana and blueberries and a drizzle of honey is a favourite!), or some poached eggs on toast. Keep the fluid coming – half water half orange juice is a great drink.

Prior to the start

Take on more fluid – possibly a sports drink (or more half water/half orange juice which is an equivalent), and some easily digestible snacks such as jaffa cakes/jellybeans if you’re heading out to perform straight away.

Snacks

If you can, keep topping up with jaffa cakes/jellybeans/cereal bars or fruit (bananas are great as they come in their own packaging so you can store them on the boundary!) and keep topping up the fluids! If possible a sports drink or two and water.

FACT – some sports people have been shown to sweat up to two litres an hour when performing!

Lunch/Tea

Try to take in something that’s appropriate to the stage of the game – if you are rushing back out, keep it light and digestible, or maybe even a carbohydrate/protein shake. If you have got a bit more time, try to get a suitable plate of food that meets the “third of a plate” guidelines!

Straight after performance

This is the best time to get some carbs and protein back into the body – either a recovery shake or a chicken sandwich and some fruit – not forgetting the fluids. If no substantial food is available then you can still use the snacks mentioned earlier to help aid recovery.

Nutritional Don’ts

If you are trying to stay a lean, well-conditioned cricketer, then avoid high fat foods such as cheese, chocolate and crisps, as well as creamy/cheesy sauces. If you are well-prepared you can always have your own healthy snacks at hand to make sure you are turning the 60’s and 70’s into 100’s, and the 3-fers into 5-fers!

Iain Brunnchweiler - ECB U17 Performance Coach