Cricket team goes vegan so Hindu and Muslim players can enjoy all of club life Match meals entirely vegan at Earley Cricket Club right down to the milk in a cup of tea

A cricket club has become the first in the UK to officially go vegan to ensure its Muslim and Hindu players are not excluded from match teas.

Earley Cricket Club in Berkshire offers a vegan menu rather than the traditional rounds of sandwiches and cakes, following a decision by its committee members.

Players at the relatively new club, founded 12 years ago, are now served dishes including vegan Moroccan tagine, curries and rice and lasagne and soya or oat milk for hot drinks.

The club’s chairman Gary Shacklady told i: “The teas have been vegan for the past three years but we made the official switch for this season.

Vegan menu

“We found that most clubs serve meat in their teas which is unsuitable for people who follow Hinduism or Islam, therefore it excluded them.

“As a vegan myself, I found the same problem. As a result, we as a club have switched to a fully inclusive tea.”

‘Official switch’

The decision to go vegan at the club, which plays in Divisions 2 and 3 of the Berkshire Cricket League, was taken to ensure Muslim and Hindu players could fully join in with club life.

We found that most clubs serve meat in their teas which is unsuitable for people who follow Hinduism or Islam, therefore it excluded them Gary Shacklady

One member was against the move, feeling it was “against people’s right to eat meat”.

But four teammates have enjoyed the new menu so much they have switched to plant-based diets themselves.

The cricket club is not the first sports team in the UK to go vegan.

In 2017, Forest Green Rovers based in Gloucestershire was officially recognised as the world’s first vegan football club after receiving the Vegan Trademark from the Vegan Society.