Cricketers start playing immediately after lunch, how harmful is it to do so?

Cricketers should take advantage of breaks between games to consume high-carb, low-fat snacks and fluids. Some examples of post-match snacks include a low-fat smoothie, low-fat yogurt, fruit, or a sandwich.

Cricketers who eat well are more likely to play better, recover faster and be more energetic. They are also less likely to feel tired, irritable or lethargic.

Meal timings should also be well planned to coincide with recovery between sessions. On heavy training days, athletes should remember to include additional snacks to fuel the higher training load. Cricket can involve low intensity activity for long periods of time and players often find themselves gaining unwanted weight, especially when they are enjoying the social aspects of cricket.

Cricketers wishing to reduce body fat need to assess their training load and may need to incorporate additional aerobic exercise in addition to prescribed training sessions.

Dietary intake also needs to be considered as fat and alcohol intake are common nutritional issues in cricket that need attention. Nutrition strategies should be personalized based on session intensity, session goals, body size, body composition goals and the time period before the next training session or game.

Eat a large meal 2-4 hours before playing so that your stomach is empty. Then, eat a high-carbohydrate breakfast 1-2 hours before playing. Like jam sandwich or muesli bar and banana or liquid food like Sustagen Sport. This may be good if you are prone to stomach upset from eating solid food before the game. This is also good to do between sessions and while waiting to play. Keep these snacks low in fat – fat moves food out of the stomach more slowly, which can lead to stomach upset on the field.