Tammy Beaumont reveals pickle juice as her secret weapon against Australia in the Women’s Ashes
England Batter Tammy Beaumont’s Secret Revealed
Last week, England batter Tammy Beaumont unveiled an unexpected secret behind her remarkable longevity during a record-breaking innings against Australia in cricket – pickle juice. This unusual and unconventional method helped her overcome cramp in her hand that threatened to derail her performance.
The 32-year-old athlete consumed pickle juice while battling through a mammoth innings lasting over eight hours, eventually reaching an impressive score of 208, the highest ever achieved by an English woman in cricket. Discussing her experience on the Tailenders podcast, she admitted that drinking pickle juice was far from pleasant.
“It was disgusting,” she shared candidly about the taste of the drink.
Beaumont faced numerous challenges throughout her marathon innings which consisted of 331 balls and included 27 fours. She became only the eighth player to score a double hundred in women’s cricket. However, it was not smooth sailing as cramping posed a significant threat to her performance.
“If I have batted for a long time it goes like an actual claw,” explained Beaumont. “I have to literally straighten out my fingers, drink some disgusting pickle juice and try to continue playing because once it starts happening every couple of overs for the rest of the day.”
This isn’t Beaumont’s first encounter with this peculiar remedy though; she had previously experienced another incident involving pickle juice during a match last year when she mistakenly swallowed instead of spitting it out.
“There are two different types of pickle juice. One you swallow, the other you swill around and spit out,” she explained. “During a match last year, Katherine Sciver-Brunt brought it out to the middle, but I didn’t know it was meant to be spit out. So, I swilled it around and swallowed it, and she was like ‘what are you doing?’ It tasted like acid. It was horrible.”
So does this unconventional method actually work? Dr Mayur Ranchordas, a senior lecturer in sports nutrition and exercise metabolism at Sheffield Hallam University has used pickle juice with professional cyclists and Premier League footballers.
According to Dr Ranchordas, the results are compelling but not for the reasons one might expect.
“Pickle juice contains sodium, potassium and vinegar,” he explains. “The obvious conclusion would be that it replaces sodium and salts lost while playing sport in hot and humid conditions. However, how it really works is by triggering a reflex in the mouth which sends signals to stop muscles from cramping – that’s why athletes drink it when they experience cramp onset.”
In fact, pickle juice has been found to alleviate cramps 40% faster than drinking water alone.
Dr Ranchordas believes that this unique beverage is particularly effective for treating cramps in warmer conditions or during unexpectedly long sporting events such as five-set tennis matches or extended cricket innings.