‘Well, I’m afraid this Rachael is lying or in desperate need of glasses!’ Maddie laughed. ‘I think we would all remember if Lisa Sthalekar had been training us.’
‘Yeah, instead we got Sonia with her crazy pink-tipped hair who doesn’t have a clue about cricket,’ Chase added.
‘Wait a second. What did you just say?’ Claire asked, a look of surprise on her face.
‘I said, we got stuck with crazy Sonia,’ Chase repeated. ‘I guess she’s a Sixers fan, that can be the only explanation for the pink hair … but seriously, where did you find her because she is a terrible –’
‘Oh dear,’ Claire interrupted. ‘I think I know what’s been going on here. The lady you just described isn’t Sonia, whoever that is, it’s Rachael! The pink tips in the hair gave it away.’
All the children gasped as they looked up at Claire.
‘Don’t worry, I’m going to get to the bottom of this.’ Claire whipped her phone out again. ‘I’ll be back,’ she said abruptly, before marching out of the dining room.
‘Wow,’ Ned said, piping up from the back of the group.
‘Wow, weird and crazy,’ Beccy added.
‘Why would Rachael, aka Sonia, pretend to be our coach? She didn’t even seem interested in training us,’ Maddie queried.
Chase shrugged. ‘Beats me.’
A few minutes later, Claire came back and asked the Sydney Sixers players to gather round. ‘Hi everyone. I’m so sorry for the mix-up we’ve had this afternoon. Unfortunately your coach, Lisa Sthalekar, had been given some incorrect information and didn’t make it to your first practice. But she just asked me to tell you that she’s really looking forward to meeting you later today, okay?’
‘Is she all right?’ Chase asked.
‘Oh yes, absolutely fine,’ Claire said. ‘Anyway, we’re about to have the Virtual Nets session. I guarantee you’re really going to enjoy this. Let’s head back into the foyer.’
The players followed Claire out. They crossed the foyer to a door marked VIRTUAL CRICKET CENTRE. The Sydney Thunder players had already gone in. Maddie and the rest of the team joined the others in an enormous room filled with cricket nets.
‘Welcome, everyone, to one of the most advanced cricket training facilities in the world. My name is Brad Haddin and you are about to be the first children in Australia to experience this amazing technology.’
‘This is unreal.’ Andy sighed, staring at his hero. Brad Haddin was a wicketkeeper and hard-hitting batter who’d played heaps of One Day and Test matches for Australia. Now he was playing BBL for the Sydney Sixers.
Gasps and whispers erupted from the children as Brad was joined by Moises Henriques, Ellyse Perry, Belinda Vakarewa and Usman Khawaja. Usman was padded up and had his helmet in his hand.
Brad continued. ‘I don’t think the players here need an introduction, but joining us today we have Australian and Sydney Sixers all-rounder, Moises Henriques; fast bowler and top-order batter, Ellyse Perry; fast bowler and up-and-coming star, who recently played for Australia in the World Cup in England, Belinda Vakarewa; and finally, Usman Khawaja, one of the classiest and most elegant batters playing in Australia at the moment.’
Usman and Belinda were wearing their Sydney Thunder uniforms, while Moises and Ellyse were in the pink of the Sydney Sixers.
‘Okay, so first a quick demonstration,’ Ellyse said, stepping forwards. ‘Usman here has a microphone and speaker attached to his helmet.’ Ellyse turned and pointed to a glass booth above the nets. ‘Do you see up there? Inside that little room is Tony. He invented all this. He’s going to press some buttons and create exactly what Usman wants. Have a listen.’
You could have heard a pin drop as the children leant forwards expectantly.
Usman put his helmet on. ‘Night match,’ he began. ‘Melbourne Cricket Ground, 85,000 in the crowd.’
‘I do not believe this,’ Jye, the boy from the Sydney Thunder team, gasped. The lights in the room slowly dimmed except for a couple of powerful beams, illuminating the first pitch. Images of a huge crowd appeared on the walls and from loudspeakers the noise gradually grew.
‘I want a fast-paced pitch,’ Usman continued. ‘And I want Pat Cummins bowling to me.’
‘Pat Cummins is a fast bowler for the Sydney Thunder and Australia,’ Brad explained. ‘So upstairs, Tony is going to replicate an over from Pat Cummins. He’s got the data from thousands of Pat’s deliveries, so it’s going to be as if Pat’s actually here bowling to Usman.’
As Usman strode down the pitch to take guard in front of a set of stumps, a full-sized, lifelike image of Pat Cummins appeared at the bowler’s end. The children edged forwards, eager to see how it was going to work.
‘Usman, do you want a challenge?’ Tony’s voice came over the loudspeaker.
‘What Tony means is whether Usman would like a target. We can analyse every shot and tell Usman how many runs he’s scored,’ Belinda explained.
‘Okay,’ Usman said, tapping his bat on the crease. ‘Sixteen runs to win.’
‘He’s got no chance,’ Jye said. ‘Not with Pat bowling.’
‘Ready?’ Tony asked, from his little booth upstairs.
‘I’m ready,’ Usman replied.
For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then suddenly, the noise of the crowd grew as a video image of Pat running in to bowl appeared. Maddie’s eyes darted from the image of Pat to the relaxed figure of Usman. He stepped forwards, just as a real ball flew out from an opening alongside Pat, and cracked it into the side netting. The volume of noise increased.
‘Four,’ Tony called. ‘That’s 12 off five,’ he added.
Usman hooked a shorter delivery for another four, but could only score one run off the next two deliveries, both fast yorkers.
‘What do you think, everyone?’ Brad asked. ‘Will Usman get the runs?’
‘No way,’ Jye exclaimed.
‘I say yes. You can’t have Sixers agreeing with Thunder,’ Maddie chuckled.
‘Four!’ Tony announced as Usman charged down the wicket to loft a short ball straight back past the screen where Pat was standing, hands on hips. Some of the children flinched and ducked, thinking the ball was coming straight for them, but the netting trapped it.
‘What’s the equation, Tony?’ Usman asked, spinning his bat around and flexing at the knees.
‘One ball left, two to tie and three to win.’
Pat’s last delivery was a slower one. Usman took a step back, and glided it away past gully.
‘Two,’ Tony announced.
‘A tie!’ Brad declared laughing.
A smiling Usman appeared a moment later. He grinned as he took off his gloves. ‘Now it’s your turn.’
‘I’m not facing Pat Cummins,’ Chase shrieked, looking horrified.
‘No, no,’ Brad assured the children. ‘We’ve got some speed restrictions in place for you guys, don’t worry. So, I want the Sydney Sixers girls to go with Ellyse into Net Four, the boys with Henriques into Net Three. You Sydney Thunder boys can stay here in Net One with Ussy and the Sydney Thunder girls can head into Net Two with Belinda. Have fun!’
For the next hour, the room was filled with the rumbling noise of different crowds, flashing lights and the squeals of anguish and delight as runs were scored and wickets fell.
Maddie chose to bat in a T20 match at the MCG against the Southern Stars, with Hayleigh Brennan bowling.
‘Are you going to set yourself a challenge?’ Ellyse asked her.
‘No,’ Maddie replied. Maddie just wanted to enjoy the experience of batting and playing each ball on its own without the added pressure.
‘Maddie, most of the other kids are setting targets, but you know what? The majority of the batting you do in a real game is not target chasing off a last over so I think you’ve made a smart choice,’ Ellyse told her, giving her a pat on the shoulder.
Maddie missed the first two deliveries but felt her confidence grow as she started to connect. Even though she knew Hayl
eigh wasn’t bowling at her normal pace, the deliveries were still coming on quickly. She faced three overs and managed not to get out, even scoring a few runs off the last few deliveries.
‘Well played,’ Ellyse said, as Maddie walked out of the net area.
‘You think?’
‘For sure. You’ll make a really solid opening batter. You’ve got a quick eye and you’re strong on both sides of the wicket, with a pretty tight defence too. Just make sure you’re right to the pitch of the ball when you want to force a drive. You’ll hit it in the air if you’re not.’
‘Thanks heaps, Ellyse.’
At the end of the session each player was given a team-themed certificate that included a complete analysis of their batting and scoring. The players had been kind enough to hang around for another 15 minutes so that all 24 children could get their certificates signed. Maddie was especially proud of her signatures. Ellyse Perry had written, ‘Good leaders make great decisions’ on hers. After another five minutes of thankyous and goodbyes, the children reluctantly left the nets area.
‘If they told us we had to go home now, I’d go home happy,’ Chase said to Maddie.
‘We are so lucky,’ Maddie agreed. ‘Imagine if that place was open to everyone?’
‘Well, if we’re good enough and become Big Bash League players like Belinda and Ellyse, we’ll be able to use those nets whenever we want.’
A dreamy look passed over Maddie’s face. ‘Oh, that would be amazing. I’m going to train so hard from now on.’ She spun round and grabbed Chase’s hands. ‘Chase, I’m going to play cricket for the Sydney Sixers and New South Wales and maybe even Australia.’
Chase squeezed her friend’s hands. ‘You are so smart and determined, Maddie Gleeson. You know what? I reckon you just might!’
Thursday evening
Lisa Sthalekar, their real coach, joined the Sydney Sixers players at dinner. ‘I’m so sorry for the mix-up, everyone,’ she said, her long dark hair shaking as she moved her head from side to side.
Maddie had seen her on television, playing for the Sydney Sixers and for Australia. She had a beautiful smile that lit up her face. Maddie wasn’t the only player staring at her, a little mesmerised as she tried to explain what had happened.
‘It’s just so odd,’ Lisa continued. ‘I got a call from a lady who said there had been a change of plan and that I wasn’t required anymore. Something about the Crickomania Carnival being cancelled.’
‘Did the person who told you say what their name was?’ Chase asked.
Lisa shook her head. ‘No. I knew the call came from the Crickomania Mansion though – I recognised the number. Actually, I’m pretty sure I’ve spoken to her before.’
‘Her?’ Maddie asked, eyebrows raised.
Suddenly, everyone was looking keenly at Lisa.
She laughed. ‘It’s okay. I’m sure it was just an admin error. Anyway, like I said, I’m so sorry to have missed your first practice. But you did have someone looking after you, didn’t you?’
‘You could say that,’ Andy said, after a moment.
‘We’re so glad to have you with us,’ Maddie said earnestly. ‘The Sydney Thunder team are super serious. They trained hard today.’
‘Yes, they’ve got Steve Johnstone as their coach. He’s pretty full-on,’ Lisa said. ‘But I heard that you guys were quite organised yourselves.’
While the others ate, Maddie told Lisa about Sonia-who-turned-out-to-be-Rachael, her idea for the batting order, and making Sachin twelfth man because his first name was the last alphabetically.
‘Wow, I’ve never heard of that before,’ Lisa said, taking a bite out of her bread roll.
The Sydney Sixers players then took it in turns to tell Lisa a little bit about themselves and their cricket background. By the time they’d started dessert, Maddie felt as if she knew the team even better.
Harold Abbott arrived just as the meal was finishing. He stood up to speak and the room went silent in an instant.
‘Now, after dinner, for a special treat, I’m going to open up one of the museum rooms for you all to enjoy. As you know, the Crickomania Mansion is opening up to the public for the first time on Saturday. We’re expecting thousands of visitors so it’s a very exciting time for us all.’
‘He must be super rich,’ Chase whispered when he’d left the room.
‘I think it’s more that he’s super, super in love with cricket,’ Maddie said.
Automatic sensor lights flicked on as the players from the two teams entered the room. Maddie was expecting a space full of displays and old photos, much like the foyer. But while there were a number of beautiful old wooden cabinets with ancient looking cricket bats and other cricket gear, there were also modern, interactive displays.
Maddie’s favourite was a huge model of the Sydney Cricket Ground. It was the size of a toddler’s swimming pool. She and a number of the other kids spent ages there, pressing buttons to light up various parts of the ground. One button turned on the enormous lights, another button lit up the scoreboard and another button gently lifted the roof of one of the stands off so you could look inside. The detail was breathtaking.
‘Maddie, check this out,’ Beccy said, grabbing her hand. Reluctantly, Maddie allowed herself to be torn away from the giant model. ‘You sit here and type in any player’s name and you get a full-on player profile and all their highlights. Look!’
Maddie watched as Beccy touched the screen. A map of the world appeared. ‘You can pick any team in the whole world,’ Beccy continued, pressing the image of Australia. The screen shimmied and blurred for a moment before a host of logos appeared.
‘Sydney Sixers, of course,’ Maddie said, reaching past Beccy and pressing the pink logo.
A few other kids had gathered round and heaps more were arriving, when they heard Maddie’s cry of shock. ‘They’re our names!’ There was a picture of each of the 12 Sydney Sixer players.
‘I know!’ Beccy replied.
‘Serious?’ Jye asked, leaning in for a closer look and pushing past Maddie in the process. ‘Here, let’s flick it over to a Sydney Thunder player. Me, for instance. No one wants to see a Sixers player.’
‘Hang on a minute,’ Maddie retorted quickly. ‘I think I might have got here before you, Jye.’ Maddie hadn’t budged from her position.
‘Yeah, whatever,’ Jye said finally as he backed away from the screen. He hadn’t expected Maddie’s firm reply.
Maddie touched the little square image of herself. ‘Maddie Gleeson, talented right-hand bat for the Sydney Sixers,’ Maddie read, barely believing her eyes.
‘Hey, line up,’ someone shouted. ‘We’ll all get a turn.’ Almost everyone was pushing around the screen, trying to get a look.
‘Press that link,’ someone suggested, pointing to a tiny icon of a movie camera.
Maddie touched the camera and the screen dissolved into little pink crystals before the MCG slowly appeared. ‘No way,’ she breathed.
‘Maddie, that’s you batting at the MCG!’ Ned laughed, pointing at the screen.
‘It’s from the Virtual Nets,’ Jye said.
‘There’s more screens over here,’ one of the Sydney Thunder players exclaimed. There was a mad rush for the other screens. Maddie watched herself play and miss the first two deliveries, just as she had in the nets session a few hours earlier.
‘Okay, I actually hit this next one,’ she said.
‘Nice shot,’ Jye acknowledged, nodding approvingly.
Maddie settled in to view the rest of her batting performance. As she watched, she wondered whether Jye would have complimented her had she not stood her ground. Maybe she’d earned a little respect from him for not giving in and letting him take over the screen.
No one wanted to leave, but as Claire led the children to their rooms, she promised that they could have another session tomorrow evening.
When Maddie pulled out her toothbrush she noticed a little note inside her toiletries bag.
‘Hey Ma
ds … good news! The toothpaste is not a dead caterpillar – and you get to squeeze it out yourself! You may not be able to see us right now, but we’re with you all the same. I know, there’s no logic to that at all, but you know what we mean. See you in a couple of days. Love you forever, Mum and Dad xx’
Maddie smiled. It had been such an amazing day, she’d barely even thought of her parents. She almost laughed out loud when she remembered how worried she’d been about leaving home. To think she might have missed out on all this!
‘Are you awake, Maddie?’ Chase whispered.
‘No,’ Maddie muttered.
‘Oh, okay,’ Chase replied. A few seconds ticked by. ‘Hang on, yes you are!’
‘Chase, it’s nearly ten o’clock and we’ve got a big day tomorrow.’
‘I know, but I think I left my certificate from the Virtual Nets session down in the museum room.’
‘It’ll be there in the morning, we can get it then, okay?’ Maddie rolled over and closed her eyes. They were on the first floor of the mansion, in a little dormitory with six beds. There was a similar bedroom for the boys further along the corridor. The Sydney Thunder players were on the next level.
‘But what if it’s not? What if one of the Sydney Thunder players picked it up and burnt it or something?’
‘Chase, as if they’d do that,’ Maddie said, stifling a yawn.
‘Well, I’m going to check. It’s just down the stairs.’
Groaning loudly, Maddie sat up in bed. ‘Really?’
‘I’ll be back in a minute.’
Maddie sighed, hauling herself out of bed. ‘Fine, I’ll come with you.’ The other four girls were either asleep or choosing to not join in.
Lights set into the floor cast a soft but eerie glow in the stairwell.
‘Come on, let’s be quick,’ Maddie said, glancing around. There was no one about. The girls raced down the stairs and across the floor of the foyer.
‘It’s locked,’ Chase whispered, trying the handle of the door.
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