Had lost 4.5 kg in one session in a Test in Sri Lanka, says former England keeper Matt Prior

England, who were the opponents against whom Sri Lanka had played their first Test in 1982, are set to tour the island nation for a full-fledged series and former player Matt Prior has a scary anecdote to offer on his playing experience there. The ex-wicket-keeper recently said that he had once lost 4.5 kilograms of weight in just one session during a Test match in Sri Lanka.

Prior, who played 79 Tests for England between 2007 and 2014, had toured the emerald isle in 2007 and 2012 during which he played five Tests. It was during a morning session of those Tests that Prior had lost four-and-half kilograms, giving a clear indication how much impact the heat and humidity could have on the visiting sides.

‘Added pressure of heat and humidity’

“In one session – it was a morning session so 9.30 to 11.30 – and bearing in mind I was drinking a litre of fluids every 15 minutes, I lost 4.5 kg. That’s just in a two-hour session! It is draining, quite literally. You’ve got all the mental challenges of Test-match cricket – the intensity, you’re playing against some fantastic cricketers, the different wickets, the spinners, everything else. But then you’ve got this added pressure of the heat, the humidity and how much that does physically drain you,” Metro.co.uk cited talkSPORT as quoting Prior as saying.

In the 2007 series, Prior had scored two half-centuries against Sri Lanka though England lost that series 0-1. Prior, 36, will be back in Sri Lanka in November as part of the talkSPORT commentary team that will cover the Three Lions’ three-Test series. The two teams will also play five ODIs and one T20I before the Tests.

This is the seventh time that England are touring Sri Lanka for Test matches. The last time the visitors won a Test series in Sri Lanka was in 2000-01 when they won a three-match series 2-1. England are high on confidence as they recently thrashed India 4-1 in a home series though it will not be easy to beat Sri Lanka, who defeated South Africa in their last series, in their own backyard.

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