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Jacob Bethel with his left handed aggression is snapping at his heels, and Ollie Pope might be facing the heat averaging 31, to nail down that Ashes No 3 spot. But in the long term every Test batsman also has to consider his skin care regime – once you are pencilled in to play. “You don’t want to get wrinkles when you are older,” Ollie Pope had told Sky Sports’ Cricket Unpacked at Edgbaston.
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Asked what factor lotion he slathered on his mug, he answered, “I wear a 50 SP factor sunscreen. If you are out 6 hours a day, you got to look after your skin. You obviously see lot of cricketers with zinc cream on their nose and lips sometimes ears as well.”
Speaking to Sky Sports he offered other nuggets into what goes on in the England dressing room and on training days. Elaborating on training skeds, Pope said, “During a Test week usually 6 hours because you train two days before you play and day after a Test is a day off. In a week off, it could be 10-14 hours. It’s 3-4 hours two days out and fairly light session, maybe run, bat, catch. Day before get in, mess around a lot on the outfield playing football. When you get a week off that’s when you get your technical work done in 4-5 hour training blocks. Couple of gyms and running sessions.”
Cardio? “Fair bit of running, when you get time off it’s running sessions. We call it tempo. Try and get some turns involved. It’s usually a testing of a 2K time trial. Lots of tempos and shuttles. Not necessarily 5K and 10K.”
On rain interrupted days, Pope would tell Sky that playing pranks on Marcus Trescothick, their batting coach, keeps the English messing with fun to be had. “5-6 guys go to dining room and play some cards in rain delays. Play pranks. Marcus Trescothick had some sausages in his kitbag. Try and get them somewhere he doesn’t want. He has an obsession with sausages. Other than that just chat rubbish and headphones. Phone and TV,” he said.
How many whites do a Test match player go through typically? “When it’s batting you just change a tee. So might be 2 or 3 a day. If you have a really good knock then it’s whites in the field all day so you probably get 6-7 during a week. Bowlers have more because they’re sweating through their shirts.”
Waiting for their turn to bat can be tricky and not everyone gets onto the balcony to focus – so cricketers probably watch less cricket when playing. “Waiting for turn to bat, try and stay as relaxed as possible. It could be 1 ball or 100 overs, hopefully latter. So you just chat a bit of nonsense with whoever you are batting or waiting with. I don’t generally watch Live so we sit in change room and chat with Joe Root because he’s in after me and pretty much doing the same thing. It’s about keeping the nerves down and keep right level of watching the game and not watching it too intensely. If I end up watching Live I’ll watch it too much and then that drains me a little too much. It’s good to not get into the game too intently before so I save my energy. Others guys like to come out on balcony and see. But we’ve always got the TV to watch how ball is swinging and which bowler is bowling. So I try and stay relaxed but have a rough idea of what’s going on in the game.”
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What’s the kitting out routine like? “Generally with two wickets needed, batters have their thigh pads on and their spikes on. Generally when you are next in to bat you just pud your pads on and leave helmet, gloves on the side and put them. When there’s one wicket that’s pretty much when you ready to go.”
Asked in the padding is enough to save them from bruises against a fiery pacer spell, Pope said mostly it suffices except for the main torso. “Mainly ribcage and arm is worst place. Padding is pretty good otherwise,” he told sky.
Lunch and tea might be for spectators to hop out and get their grub, but Pope said batsmen in the middle typically are not very high on appetite. “During a Test match, you eat things like chicken or fish, maybe some steak and pasta. Try and fuel up as much as you can. If I’m batting I don’t actually eat a lot at all. Just because for some reason your body doesn’t want it. I just have a protein shake and banana if I’m batting. If I’m batting whole day then at end of day I’ll eat anything because it’s just so hard to eat through the day so you fuel up end of the day,” he told Sky.
And finally, the question that many wonder about – do cricketers sip real tea in the designated and celebrated tea break unique to cricket? “Some drink tea during tea break. I normally have coffee to get caffeine levels up at lunch and tea. Sometimes tea if there’s a rain delay,” Pope said.
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