‘This is like Harry Potter,’ Chase said, elbowing Maddie. ‘Look.’
Maddie turned. On a raised platform at the front of the room was yet another table, this one smaller. Standing tall behind the table was a man wearing a black suit. He had white hair, a white beard and a warm, beaming smile.
‘Thank you, everyone, please take a seat.’ The old man paused, waiting for the room to settle. ‘My name is Harold Abbott and I am the owner of Crickomania Mansion. Cricket has always been my passion and I am so pleased to be hosting this carnival along with the Big Bash League. We received hundreds of applications for the very seats you are sitting in, but we picked you all for a reason and I’m sure you will do your teams proud.’ Harold Abbott brought his hands together, palms touching, like he was about to deliver a prayer.
‘Now, if you look at your personalised place mats, you’ll see the program for the coming days. It culminates, of course, with the third and final T20 Crickomania Carnival game.’
Maddie glanced down at her placemat.
The boy to her right had a number three on his. Maddie wondered what the different numbers meant, but Harold Abbott was speaking again.
‘If you’d all like to stand up, you’ll find something inside your seat.’
‘Inside our seat?’ the boy next to Maddie whispered. Maddie noticed that his name was Ned Young. He had short brown hair and was super thin. His eyes darted about warily. ‘Since when does a seat have an inside part?’
‘Oh, I get it,’ Maddie said, lifting the cushioned seat section. Beneath lay a parcel wrapped in pink Sydney Sixers wrapping paper.
The dining hall was a flurry of activity as 24 excited children shouted in delight as pink and green wrapping paper flew into the air.
‘How do they know my size?’ Chase asked, holding up a pair of pink cricket trousers.
‘So that’s what the numbers on the placemats are,’ Maddie said, turning over her Sydney Sixers top. Her name and the number eight were printed neatly on its back.
‘Just like the real Big Bash League,’ Ned said with a smile.
‘Well, I’m thrilled that you’re all so excited,’ Harold Abbott laughed. ‘If I could have your attention for just a little longer?’ It took a few moments, but finally the room settled. ‘There are two sets of uniforms –’
‘Two?’ one of the Sydney Thunder players blurted out.
Harold Abbott smiled. ‘That’s right. There’s another outfit on everyone’s bed, in case you’d also like to train in your colours. You’ll notice that I’ve placed a rule book, along with some other fun items in your parcels here. Enjoy your stay, everyone. Remember to listen to your coaches and, above all, play this great game of cricket hard but fair.’
Someone started clapping and in a second everyone was joining in.
Maddie watched Harold Abbott stand a moment longer, then slowly sit down at his table. ‘Um, wait,’ Maddie called, jumping to her feet. ‘I just think we, well … thank you, Mr Abbott. This is going to be amazing. So thanks from us all.’
‘Way to go, Maddie.’ Chase clapped and the whole room joined in.
Harold Abbott smiled. ‘Well, thank you very much, Maddie Gleeson, that’s very kind. Oh, just one more thing. I’d like to let you know that level three, the top storey of the building, is out of bounds. Thank you.’
‘He knows your name,’ Chase whispered, leaning across the table.
‘He knows everybody’s name.’ Claire winked from the head of the table.
Slightly embarrassed, Maddie glanced down again at the program for the rest of the day.
Maddie was excited about the first practice session, even if she was a bit nervous to see how she’d stack up against Chase and the others on the team.
She glanced around at the happy faces of her Sydney Sixers teammates. In that moment it occurred to her that one of them would not be playing in the first T20 game tomorrow afternoon – there were 12 of them but there were only 11 players in a cricket team. Who would be the unlucky player to miss out? The others seemed so confident and relaxed that Maddie’s excitement faded.
Maddie took two small triangular sandwiches from the plate that was being passed around the table. All she could do was try her best. She had no control over the others and how good or bad they were.
Thursday afternoon
The Sydney Sixers players would be using the outdoor cricket nets for their first practice, while the Sydney Thunder players would train on the oval.
Waiting for Maddie and her teammates at the nets was a short, stout lady. She doesn’t look like a cricketer, Maddie thought, hoping her face wasn’t showing her disappointment. The lady was wearing a tatty pink beanie, which didn’t completely hide her stark white hair with pink tips. Her face was covered in a layer of thick make-up and heavy black mascara adorned each eye.
Maddie didn’t want to stare, but there was something about their coach that was making her feel a little uncomfortable. Still, Maddie told herself, joining the others, it didn’t matter what she looked like. As long as she knew her cricket and gave the team good tips and advice, that was what counted.
The beanie-wearing woman asked the Sydney Sixers players to gather together. They stood in a group in front of the cricket nets. Meanwhile, the Sydney Thunder team had already started their practice out in the middle of the oval.
‘My name is Sonia and I’m your coach. Can I just say that I really love the Sydney Sixers, and not the Sydney Thunder, okay? Now, you know my name but I don’t know any of yours.’ Sonia giggled.
Behind Maddie, someone smothered a yawn. Maddie clamped her lips tight, stifling a laugh as she watched Chase staring wide-eyed, her jaw slack, revealing a blob of pink bubble gum. Maddie obviously wasn’t the only one a little shocked by their coach’s appearance.
‘So, we’re going to play a getting-to-know-you game,’ Sonia continued.
‘Um, Sonia, don’t you think we should just start practice?’ Chase suggested.
‘We have two and a half hours to practise. I think you’ll find that’s more than enough time,’ Sonia replied curtly.
‘I agree with Chase. We don’t want to give the Sydney Thunder team too much of an advantage’ Maddie said, starting to stand up.
‘Sit down, little girl,’ Sonia snapped, her cheeks turning the barest hint of red through her heavy make-up.
‘Okay, then. My name is Chase.’ Chase grabbed Maddie’s hand and hauled her back to her feet.
‘Um, my name is Maddie,’ Maddie added as she nudged the boy next to her.
A tall, gentle-looking boy with black hair and dark eyes promptly got to his feet. ‘Hello, my name is Lan.’
‘Stop!’ Sonia glared at the group. ‘We will do this properly. Now, repeat after me and at the end, say what it is that you love doing. Like this. My name is Sonia and I like meditation.’ She smiled at Chase, gesturing with her hand.
‘My name is Chase.’
‘And I like?’ Sonia prompted.
‘Oh, really?’ Chase groaned.
‘And I like …’ Sonia insisted.
‘And I like cricket,’ Chase finished her sentence.
‘I’m Maddie and I like cricket too,’ Maddie followed.
‘And so do I!’ Lan agreed.
‘I’m Fenn and I also like cricket,’ another boy said.
‘No, no,’ Sonia said, shaking her head in frustration. ‘This is not how –’
‘My name is Beccy and I love cricket,’ a small girl with a streak of pink zinc on her bottom lip said, bouncing to her feet.
‘My name is Andy and I also love cricket,’ a large boy with a toothy grin and sandy coloured hair said.
In a few minutes the only person left sitting down was Sonia.
‘So, can we start training now?’ Maddie asked, surprising herself with her confidence. Chase and the others had made her feel a part of the team. Maybe Sonia had done this on purpose? The group stood together as one, waiting for an answer.
‘Well, of course. Just a
s soon as we’ve warmed up with a little yoga and relaxation. I always like to start a session with some meditation.’
But no one was listening. Andy and Chase had headed over to a huge kit of equipment.
‘Actually, everyone, I’ve changed my mind. Perhaps we’ll do some relaxation at the end of the session,’ Sonia said, trying to get the players’ attention.
‘Good idea, Sonia,’ Maddie said with a smile, walking past her with a set of stumps.
While Sonia fussed about with the batting gloves and pads, lining them up neatly in pairs, the players found what they needed and raced into the nets.
Maddie’s best skill was her fielding. She was quick, sharp and agile and had a solid flat throw. Her next best skill was her wristy and strong batting style. Her worst skill by far was her bowling, but that’s what she ended up doing first.
‘Just get it on the pitch,’ she muttered to herself, jogging up to the bowling crease. Her delivery was in line with the stumps, but bounced twice before getting to her teammate Mehdi, the batter in her net.
‘You’ll be better once you warm-up,’ Chase said encouragingly.
It didn’t take long for Maddie to realise that she wasn’t completely out of her depth as far as cricket talent went. Mehdi, Lan and a girl called Hayley were batting and all of them were skilled, forceful batters. Sometimes they were able to smash the ball into the side netting, but sometimes they missed too. Chase was a steady, accurate, medium-paced bowler, while Andy and Fenn were both quite quick. Beccy, along with two other players called Kelly and Sachin, were slow bowlers. Sachin looked especially talented, spinning the balls both ways and bowling full and accurately. Maddie had also noticed Beccy trying on the wicketkeeping gloves. If no one else put their hand up for the wicketkeeping job, then Beccy would be a walk-in for the team.
On and on they toiled. Sonia was showing little interest in the training. Now and again the players would turn and look in her direction, hoping for a little comment or instruction. But every time they did, Sonia would be yawning, browsing through a magazine or even facing the opposite direction, as if she were more interested in what the Sydney Thunder players were doing. The enthusiasm of the Sydney Sixers players began to flag as the hot afternoon sun beat down.
‘I don’t reckon she’s got any idea about cricket,’ Maddie said to Andy and Chase. It was their turn to bat.
Andy nodded as he strapped on his pads. ‘I agree. I mean, look at the Thunder players.’ At that moment they were completing a fielding drill, shouting and high-fiving as they whipped around a fun-looking obstacle course that involved gathering and throwing a cricket ball at different targets.
Chase sighed. ‘That looks so cool. They’ve been laughing and shouting for the last hour.’
‘Come on, you guys, enough watching,’ Maddie said, turning away and adjusting her helmet. ‘Right now, we need to make the most of our session here.’
‘Yeah, that’s true, Maddie.’ Andy put a curved finger and thumb to his lips and whistled loudly. ‘Over here, everyone!’ he shouted.
The players gathered around the three padding up.
‘Maddie’s got something to say,’ Andy said, giving her a firm nod.
Maddie felt a little nervous and took a deep breath. ‘This time tomorrow we will be out on that oval, playing against that team,’ she said, pointing a thumb over her shoulder. ‘We may not have the same coach, but I reckon they would have made the teams pretty even. So –’
‘Are we having a little powwow?’ Sonia interrupted cheerfully as she joined the players. ‘I think that’s a very good idea. We could do some visualisation. Now, if we all close our eyes –’
‘Actually, Sonia, we were just about to work out our batting order.’
‘Yes, well, I’ve already done that.’
‘You have?’ Ned asked.
‘Have you been watching us and making notes?’ Kelly asked.
‘No, no. I thought we’d go in alphabetical order.’
‘Alphabetical order?’ queried Sachin. He was a small, serious-looking boy with thick brown hair.
Sonia glanced at her notes. ‘Yes, now I can understand that you might be upset, Sachin, because of course, with your first name beginning with an “S”, you will miss out, but I feel this is the fairest way.’
Sachin’s bottom lip trembled. ‘B-but –’
‘It should be based on ability,’ Chase blurted out.
‘Oh, really?’ Sonia said, turning to glare at Chase. ‘And who decides which player is the worst, hmm?’
‘You do, Sonia. That’s your job as coach,’ said Maddie, looking around for support.
‘Well, my approach is a little different. I’ve chosen someone at random. It’ll be another person for the next game. Now, I’m going to get you all some delicious icy cold drinks and ice creams, does that sound good?’ Sonia headed off before anyone could answer.
‘Weird,’ Fenn muttered.
‘But hey, she’s got a point,’ Maddie confessed. ‘That kind of makes sense about the twelfth man thing. Sachin, do you get that? Someone else is going to be missing out in the second game.’
‘I guess,’ Sachin replied, nodding slowly.
‘Does anyone else get the feeling that crazy Sonia is going out of her way to sabotage our practice?’ Chase grumbled.
‘I’m with you, Chase. I don’t like it,’ Andy agreed. ‘She’s not showing any interest in us as cricketers.’
‘Does she even know anything about cricket?’ Beccy asked.
‘We don’t have much time to worry about that,’ Maddie said.
‘So, are we sticking with the alphabetical order? Because I’ve never opened the batting before!’ Andy admitted.
‘No, I say we keep practising then find some time tonight to work it out. And our bowling order too. Maybe we can speak to Claire about it at dinner later.’ Maddie was again taking charge.
‘Yeah, but what if Sonia overrules us?’ Hayley, a small, thin girl with short straight hair asked. ‘You know, as coach. Maybe she has to put in a team sheet or something before the game.’
Everyone was looking at Maddie for an answer.
‘The game doesn’t start till ten o’clock tomorrow morning. Maybe I’ll ask Jye. I’m sure he’ll know,’ Maddie said hesitantly.
‘Jye?’ Mehdi raised an eyebrow. Mehdi wore his pink Sydney Sixers cap sideways which kept his unruly mop of black hair in check. There was always a smile on his tanned face.
‘Yeah, he’s on the Sydney Thunder team. Chase and I met him earlier this morning when we arrived. He’s here for one reason only – and that’s to win.’
‘And, he’ll tell you?’ Mehdi pressed.
Chase grinned, putting on her sweetest smile. ‘Well, if he doesn’t tell Maddie here, he’ll definitely tell me.’
That got a few laughs.
Maddie glanced around the training ground to look for Sonia, but she was nowhere in sight. The Sydney Thunder players were now doing running drills between cones.
With a sigh Maddie turned to her deflated team. ‘Listen up. I don’t think those guys have got together once to talk like we have. And by the look of what they’ve been doing, they’re going to be exhausted come tomorrow. So let’s hit the nets again and give it our best, yeah?’
‘Go Sixers!’ Chase cried.
‘GO SIXERS!’ the rest of the team repeated.
Sonia never did return with the promised drinks and ice creams, so Maddie and her teammates batted and bowled for the next hour with Andy and Maddie organising the swaps.
For the last half hour they left the nets to do some fielding practice. Beccy put on the wicketkeeping gloves and the team worked through a series of fielding drills that Maddie had learnt from her school team.
By 4.30 pm, the Sydney Sixers were tired but content with the work they’d done. Maddie just hoped it would be enough. She was certain that the Sydney Thunder players had worked just as hard, if not harder.
Thursday evening
The tw
o teams had gathered back in the dining room for afternoon tea. An assortment of drinks, icy poles and fresh fruit was spread over the two tables and the children, especially the Sydney Sixers, who hadn’t received their promised refreshments from Sonia, were tucking in with enthusiasm.
‘Look, there’s Claire,’ Chase said. ‘Let’s go talk to her.’
‘Good idea,’ Maddie agreed, putting down her drink and following Chase. Andy and a few of the other players weren’t far behind.
‘Hi Claire,’ Maddie said. ‘Can we talk to you for a moment?’
‘Yes, of course,’ Claire smiled. ‘So how did your practice session go? Isn’t Lisa amazing?’
‘Lisa?’ Maddie and Chase said blankly.
‘Lisa Sthalekar,’ Claire confirmed. ‘Your coach for the carnival.’ A shadow passed over her face as she noticed the perplexed looks she was getting from the group of players gathered round her.
‘As in, Lisa Sthalekar, Australian legend?’ Chase queried.
‘Yes, one of the nicest people on the planet.’ Claire frowned, taking a phone from her pocket and quickly punching in some numbers. ‘Hello? Rachael? Just wanting to confirm that Lisa arrived this afternoon for the practice session? Yes? She was there? Okay. Did you see her? You did? Okay, well, that’s odd. No, no, I’ll follow up at this end.’ Claire paused a moment, listening to what Rachael was saying. ‘Okay,’ she continued. ‘And where is she now? Gone? I thought she’d be staying at least until dinnertime. No? Okay, that’s all. Thanks.’ Claire returned the phone to her pocket.
‘Is everything okay, Claire?’ Sachin asked.
‘This is very strange,’ Claire said, looking even more puzzled. ‘Rachael said she saw her out there training with you today.’
‘That’s impossible!’ Chase exclaimed. ‘Who is Rachael?’
‘Rachael? Oh, she has just started here. She’s working in reception. I can’t think why she would say she saw Lisa if she hadn’t.’
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