I burned off 6,000 calories in one day (but I brought Yorkshire Tea)
A STEAMY START
The acclimatisation process is still taking place here in Bangladesh and we found it tough in our warm-up game against a Board XI. We only had one practice during the day and one at night before our first game so conditions may well have been the hardest we’re going to have in this one-day series, especially fielding first with a 10.30am start.
It was brutal and reminded me of the first training session we had in Dubai last year when it was up near 40 degrees but the guys grafted hard and we came away with a decent win to prepare ourselves for the serious business.
NUMBERS GAME
I’m wearing my Fitbit watch here during matches for the first time which tells me the number of calories I’m burning and my heart-rate — a few of the boys have got them — and then we have the GPS packs on our backs that measure the distances you’ve run in the field, your speeds and the impact on your body. And some of the stats that came out of this match in Fatullah were fascinating.
For instance I can tell you that, in the field, I covered 6.4 miles with an average heart-rate of 119 beats per minute and burned 2,560 calories.
It turned out to be a three hour and 54-minute fat burning session! In the whole day I burned 6,100 calories which gives you an indication of how much the heat and humidity take out of you and how much you have to eat and drink. And that was only in 50 overs.
I’ll wear it again when I’m in the field for 90 overs and keeping wicket and batting for a while — fingers crossed — and see what it tells me then. In this part of the world you find out a lot about yourself and your team-mates because it’s going to be tough here and in India. It’s an exciting prospect and you have to embrace it, relish the challenge and enjoy it.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
The hotel we are based at in Dhaka is a good one so the food here provides you with all you need to refuel in the right way. I’ve been able to get my veg on board and my proteins. It’s been good to have a nice, big breakfast too and then crack on.
If you don’t eat a lot over here you’re going to be struggling a bit. Of course in our line of work you get used to the heat but it still takes a bit of time to get used to it each time you step out of your comfort zone. That’s not to say I don’t bring my little stash of goodies. I’ve brought my Yorkshire Tea, a few Cup-a-Soups and some noodles. It’s nice to have a taste of home.
FEELING SECURE
OBVIOUSLY with the amount of talk there was beforehand about the security situation in Bangladesh there was a bit of apprehension ahead of this tour. It’s only natural. But you only have to look at what’s happened all around the world to realise that we were right to come here.
I hear a Tube station in london had to be evacuated because of a scare the other day and we all know what happened in Paris not too long ago. It can happen anywhere. The security we have in place here has been fantastic and Reg Dickason, the ECB’s adviser, has done a brilliant job. None of us question him because he is so good at what he does and it’s his reputation on the line.
he wouldn’t have recommended we come here unless he was sure it was safe for us to do so. Yes, a couple of our lads haven’t come but it was their decision and we respect it. There are certainly no hard feelings among those of us who are here. A lot of the security has been the same as on any trip to the subcontinent — we’ve just had a few more guards this time. If you haven’t experienced it before it can be a little unnerving but even the younger lads in this squad have been on under 19 and lions tours so they’ve all had a taste of it.
We’re not going to see much of the country. We’ve not been out apart from when we’ve gone to games and training — a few of the lads have played golf — but that’s the deal on this trip and we’ve got plenty to occupy us.
There’s a good gym in the hotel and in the team room we have a table tennis table and that’s where a lot of the lads have been playing FIFA on their Xboxes. I tend to watch the most enthusiastic players — Jos Buttler, Steven Finn, liam Dawson and Sam Billings — because I’m not very good myself and I prefer that to watching Tv because I’m not a great one for box- sets. You have to be comfortable with your own company, too, on a tour like this because there are times when you’re going to be on your own.
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
I BATTED at No 4 in the warm-up game and hopefully that’s where I’ll be in the first one-day international tomorrow.
But I’ve said it before and I‘ll say it again. I really don’t mind where I bat as long as I make the team. Wherever I play I’ll be doing my best and then running around like a lunatic in the field. There’s going to be an opportunity for me to stake a claim for a regular one-day place with a few of the guys missing on this trip but at the same time I don’t want to over-hype it.
If I did that it might stop me playing naturally. If we can win this one- day series against a Bangladesh side who have a very strong record at home then it will put down a marker as to where we are as a one-day side. I’m looking forward to it.