Dan Christian: 'I'll try anything – there's nothing I won't eat'
The Australian allrounder and T20 specialist misses four-day cricket – for the food
Interview by Matt Roller12-May-2021What’s your favourite meal?
Steak and chips, with either a mushroom sauce or a red wine jus.What meal do you eat most often during the course of a week?
Eggs, in some capacity, for breakfast.Which cricket venue has the best food that you’ve played at?
Lord’s overseas, and then the MCG and the Adelaide Oval in Australia are both as good as each other. At Lord’s, it’s like you’re in a restaurant as opposed to just a cricket ground. At Adelaide Oval, the old plum chicken there used to be fantastic but they don’t do that anymore – I think the nutritionists decided that it wasn’t healthy enough. And then Jimmy down in the kitchen at the Melbourne Cricket Ground is brilliant: he does a steak, some lamb chops, prawns – all sorts.Related
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What’s your favourite city to eat out in overseas and in Australia?
In Australia, it’s a toss-up between Sydney and Melbourne, just because of the variety that you can get, and the quality of restaurants. Overseas it’s London, for similar reasons.Which cricketer you know is the best cook?
Everyone talks about Matthew Hayden who has his own cookbooks and whatever, but I’m going to go with Cameron White, who is brilliant with his fish. He’s a mad fisherman so he knows exactly what he’s doing with his fish.Does he have a signature dish?
He bakes a snapper, or he can do these really good white-fish tacos. He’s got all sorts of options.
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You’ve been a T20 specialist over the last three years. Do you miss the lunches from four-day cricket?
Yeah, that was one of the highlights! Particularly on a batting day, where you’re not having to worry about what’s in your stomach before you’ve got to bowl. On a batting day that looks like it might rain, you could really load up. That’s one of the beauties of playing four-day cricket, especially with the MCG or the Adelaide Oval as your home ground.What’s the best and worst meal you’ve been served while playing in a T20 league?
Around games I don’t tend to eat a lot. I get nervous that I’m going to get sick if I eat too much or something like that before a game. After a game I’ll eat whatever’s in front of me, so that’s a hard one.What’s your drink of choice when celebrating a title win?
Anything cold. If it’s cold, whatever it is, it goes in. You tend to throw a bit of champagne around when you first get off the field. But then sitting down and grabbing a beer out of the fridge with your team-mates once the excitement dies down a little bit – you sit down and reflect on going through everything you have over the season and that’s a pretty cool feeling.Loads of Australian cricketers are vegans. Have you ever considered joining them?
() No, I haven’t considered joining them full-time. But I have spent a lot of time with Adam Zampa and a bit of time with Kane Richardson as well. I’ve been out for dinner with those guys and I’m more than happy to eat whatever those guys are going with. I’m pretty open-minded when it comes to food. I’ll try anything – there’s nothing I won’t eat.Do you buy into Australia’s coffee culture?
Yeah, for sure. I used to be a flat-white guy, but I’ve moved onto long blacks in the past three months or so. I love my coffee. It’s a big part of my day.What’s behind the move to long blacks? Sophistication?
Not at all. I’m starting to get a bit old now, so I’m trying to watch my weight a little bit and cut back on that extra milk and going for the long blacks. There’s a few less calories in them too, which means I can have those calories somewhere else!