Stuart Broad and Jos Buttler have revealed the disgusting meal the England team were served in Australia ahead of a Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.
Watching some highlights of England’s performance during the 2025/26 Ashes may put even the hardiest fans off their Christmas dinners, but Brendon McCullum’s side have two further test matches – in Melbourne and Sydney – to play despite losing the first three games – in Perth, Brisbane, and Adelaide.
Standout bowler Jofra Archer will miss the final two tests with a side strain and will be replaced by Gus Atkinson in Melbourne, while Jacob Bethell will replace the out-of-form Ollie Pope.
Many players will likely be wishing they were back home in England with their families on Christmas Day rather than preparing to play against Australia in front of the best part of 100,000 spectators at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
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So, what does Christmas Day look like for a touring cricketer?
Well, during an episode of the ‘For The Love of Cricket’ podcast hosted by former England bowler Broad and current white-ball batter Buttler, the pair spoke of their experiences spending Christmas in Australia.
Broad explained how he would usually spend some time with his family before going back to his hotel room to watch Home Alone.
One listener asked the pair about the food and drink the team usually consumes before Broad admitted that he ate “probably the worst Christmas dinner” ever during the 2021/22 Ashes series, which was impacted by COVID-19.
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“You might have half a glass of champagne, maybe, or half a glass of wine with your meal,” Broad explained before saying he would be focused on the events of the following day rather than enjoying Christmas day.
Buttler, who has played 57 tests for England and struggled during the 2021/22 Ashes, averaging just 15.28 from eight innings, also consumed the meal Broad described as the "worst" he'd had on tour.
Broad said: “We were expecting something quite nice… we get to this shed on the beach, really, and we walk in, and it’s like, ‘right, okay, there’s not a lot going on here’.
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“It was almost as if the staff went, ‘We’ve forgotten the food here’.”
The former Nottinghamshire bowler then said a table of food arrived and compared it to something from a child’s birthday party, describing how the England team were served a roll with butter and some processed ham and turkey.
“No plates, that was one of the things I remember,” Buttler said.
“I picked up this stale roll [and] had nowhere to put it.”
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Broad continued explaining how some players saw the funny side of the dreadful meal before adding that “Stokesey [Ben Stokes] quickly went from finding it quite funny to then realising that this is his pre-match meal for his preparation to perform and he was like, ‘I’m not having this, what is going on?’”
Broad, who is England’s second-highest-ever wicket-taker in Tests with 604 dismissals, then said that most of the players left and went back to the hotel and ate instead.
England lost the 2021 Melbourne Test by an innings and 14 runs before losing the series 4-0.
Luke Davies