Diary of a Vegan Cricketer (Week Seventeen)

Can add C for consistency to the C for clarity last week …… Staffs Cricket win two on the bounce to top the league, some vegan news, and a day at Edgbaston

2024 Season Week Seventeen: July 22nd – July 28th

On the Field: Staffs made it two wins in two weeks to top the league for the second phase of the season which determines who plays in semi finals of the cup/vars/plate competitions. I am not really contributing though: not getting many opportunities to bat (and when I do wasting them) and not bowling, but on the positive side my fielding is way better …. well until I have to throw it. I know last week sounded a bit negative and it’s not that I am not enjoying playing, but I have learnt what I need to from this season and am impatient to start my winter training:

• Rehab knee, hip and shoulder
• Cardio and Strength training
• A lot of time in the nets batting and bowling
• Improve my golf.

Both of the above games included a Tea, and yep neither time was there any option provided to submit a dietary request. The first game provided a genuinely classic Cricket Tea which looked great (if you eat that type of food) and opened up another issue in my mind: can you have a Classic Vega Tea.

A Traditional Tea tends to include a range of sandwiches (cheese, ham, tuna), pork pies, sausage rolls, many many cakes, biscuits etc. My mate whose club it was said afterwards that if I had said (he apologised as he knew I was vegan but it never registered with him when sorting the teas) they would have provided something. Truth is I wouldn’t each much as I tend to graze on my own food throughout the day and as I explained to him it would a) be unrealistic (and challenging) to provide the equivalent of a traditional tea for a vegan and b) a plate of “provided something” always feels accommodating rather than inclusive and just makes people ask you ‘what is wrong’. Whilst this provides an opportunity to discuss being a vegan I am not keen on doing this at matches as it can come over as critical of others or preaching.

The second game provided a baked potato, a bowl of chilli, a bowl of beans, margarine and grated cheese so I could have a baked potato and beans with no fuss and sit down with the rest of the team any my plate look no different. Yes some vegan butter and cheese would have made it a little less bland. Of course a hot meal like that on a rare hot day had little appeal, which is something I have discussed before: call a day on traditional teas and put on a plate of food at the end of the game.

Off The Field: I was invited by Warwickshire to the last day of the Test – well the third day. Went with a friend from No Boundaries Cricket Club who is one of our bowling mentors and we were in the Skyline which was brilliant. The food though was very mixed: the Vegan Sausage Bap for Breakfast was very good indeed, the Vegan Burger for lunch (they only has one Vegan option) was as poor as I have had anywhere. It was a great days cricket though topped off by a) catching up with Roberta and b) a few drinks in the Gay Village on the way back to the station!

C for Consistency: one ‘advantage’ of being the new kid (at both club and county) is the lack of consistency in cricket: selection process, game management, development of juniors. I mention it in passing because it is something NBCC will pick up.

And so to golf …. have started to get more into hitting a few practice balls before playing, and had an enjoyable 9 holes with Sands walking round with me. Would be good if she got into it again as well.