Former county cricketer Dan Pratt, made the big decision to move from England to Australia.
The 19-year-old was granted the opportunity to play for Bendigo District Cricket Association (BDCA) side Kangaroo Flat. Speaking about the move he said: “The first couple weeks it was hard to adjust with the jet lag and also the weather hasn’t been great so I haven’t been able to get into my cricket yet.”
For Pratt the move has also meant his nutrition is a key factor in his performance.
He said: “It is about looking after yourself, your trying to get the right food in it has been difficult but it’s getting better.”
‘Sports people want to do better, and they want to win’
The addition of Pratt has helped improve Kangaroo Flat’s team for the season, but he is feeling the pressure.
“My nutrition has a massive impact now I’m in Australia,” he said. “The whole idea of me being brought over was to do well so this is key for my success whilst I’m here.”
“Cooking myself has been more of a challenge and I haven’t been as healthy as I would have liked.”
‘Many factors influence our behaviours”
Dr Meghan Bentley is a nutritionist in high-performance sport and spoke in a press conference about how difficult it is for athletes to adapt their lifestyle.
“Changing behaviour is very difficult,” she said. “As people we change overtime and what was a priority to us one day might be different the next day.”
Bentley spoke about how she gets the best out of athletes “You have to spend time to get to get to know the athlete to find out what is best for them.
“The importance of nutrition means that athletes can have a couple beers at the weekend and a pizza. That doesn’t make them a bad athlete, it makes them human.”
