by David Warner
But while Davey had lived to see another over, Ivy was out LBW two overs later. After that, the Sluggers’ middle order wavered, losing their next six wickets for just eighteen runs.
At eight wickets down for eighty-three, Sunil was batting next, so George came back out to run for Davey.
As the Sluggers’ captain made his way to the striker’s end, Davey took a deep breath. If he didn’t pick up the pace, victory would soon be out of the Sluggers’ reach and they’d lose their number-two position on the ladder. Davey knew he probably shouldn’t have cared too much, but he did – a lot.
CHAPTER 13
SWITCH OR NIX
The Crickets’ best paceman let the ball fly. The ball looked straight and Sunil played at it. But at the last moment it swung out, glancing off the bat’s edge and sailing straight into the keeper’s waiting hands.
Sunil was out – for a golden duck. Shaking his head, his face set in a grimace, he walked.
The umpire raised his arm and the Crickets and their supporters cheered.
‘YEAH!’ someone thundered. It was Mo.
Davey watched as Joe, the Sluggers’ last batter, trudged across the field to the striker’s crease. With only two overs to go, the Sluggers needed ten runs to win. That meant at least five runs each over, which was much more than their current run rate.
Two balls went through before Joe played a late cut to backward point for one. Now Davey was at the crease, and the Crickets quickly changed their field for the left-hander.
Again the bowler tried to draw Davey onto his front foot, forcing him to let the ball go through to the keeper. On the last ball of the over, he managed to pull off a back-foot cover drive. George and Joe ran a single. The fielder fumbled the ball, so they ran again and managed to turn the single into a three.
With one over left, the Sluggers were now five behind and Davey was at the striker’s end again.
But halfway through the final over, Kaboom hadn’t even smelt leather let alone struck it. When the fourth ball came down the leg side, Davey decided it was now or never, and turned, swapped his hands and made to drive it up and over. Instead, the ball nicked the edge and was just short of being caught in slips.
There were two balls to go and the Sluggers were still five runs behind.
‘CRACK ’EM, YOU CRABBY CREEK CRICKETS!’ Mo’s face looked like it might pop at any moment.
Davey breathed in, wiggled his shoulders and took his position again. ‘Come on, we can do it,’ he whispered, tapping Kaboom on the pitch in front of him. But he had to let the bouncer go through. Now there was only one ball left.
The bowler sent it down the leg side, perhaps hoping that Davey would make the same mistake as last time. On this occasion, however, Davey turned on his foot and switched his hands as if he’d been doing it since he was born. He swung Kaboom and hooked the ball high into the air. It flew towards the boundary and over.
‘Six! SIX!’ This time Kaboom didn’t leap out of his hands and make a bow, nor did the fielders transmogrify into seagulls. This time, it was for real. Davey Warner had done a switch hit for six.
The Sluggers had won.
‘No-o-o-o-o-o!’ It was Mo. Now he did look like a pufferfish.
That afternoon, Sunil and Davey were lying on the grass in the backyard sucking on Whopper Chomps and discussing the morning’s events.
‘I lined up Lata to put bi-carb soda on their oranges,’ Sunil admitted. ‘I was hoping it might react with the acid in the oranges and make them froth. Thought that might freak out the Crickets and put them off their game. But it just made their oranges taste weird.’
‘Our oranges, you mean. She did it to our oranges.’ Davey gave his friend a kick with his good leg.
‘Mmm, that’s what I thought too.’ Sunil looked a little remorseful. ‘Actually, Lata did put it on their oranges, while everyone was chasing Max around the field. But Mo saw her do it and as soon as she walked away, he switched them with ours.’
‘How do you know?’
‘He couldn’t wait to tell me, as soon as I got out. He also told me how much he enjoyed seeing me go down for a golden duck.’
‘Yeah, I guess he would have liked that.’
Sunil grinned. ‘That’s okay. I’ll get him back another day. And anyway, thanks to your secret weapon, we won, which Mo must have hated even more. Ha!’
‘Sunil! Are you ready?’ Lata was peering over the top of the fence.
‘Okay.’ He sat up and dusted himself off. ‘I’ve got to go. Things to do.’
‘You’re not cooking up more secret weapons, I hope,’ Davey said.
‘Nah, I promised to teach Lata her times tables. She already knows some of them,’ Sunil said proudly.
‘Lucky Lata,’ Davey said. ‘After all, you’re such an expert.’
‘True.’ Sunil stood and stretched, then headed down the side path. ‘Watch out!’ he called. ‘Here comes Max the Axe!’
Davey heard a bark. Max appeared. Zipping across the grass, the dog jumped on Davey and licked his face.
‘Get off!’ Davey gave the dog a push. ‘Aaarrgghh! What have you been rolling in? You stink!’
CHAPTER 14
WELCOME TO KINDY CRICKET SPECTACULAR
In the end, the Welcome to Kindy showcase turned out better than Davey and his friends expected. Even though they felt silly in marsupial makeup and headbands with ears, and despite the fact that everyone said they looked more like bush rats than kangaroos, it was fun to be something other than eleven-year-old boys for a few hours.
Davey had to admit that nice Ms Maro had done a good job. There were stalls selling cakes and drinks and funny signs telling people where to go and what to do. She’d even managed to convince the teachers to dress up as Australian animals, which seemed to put them in a better mood.
When Mr Mudge appeared in a giant sugar glider costume, Davey nearly fell off his crutches. The usually grumpy teacher was only surpassed by Mrs Trundle, who looked almost approachable as a ringtail possum.
Davey did feel a bit sorry for the kindy kids, who probably thought that school was going to be like this every day from here on. Just you wait, he thought.
Sunil and Davey were loitering by the cake stall when Ms Maro bustled over in her quokka costume. ‘Come on, boys. Time to set up for the cricket display. Davey, will you be okay on those crutches?’
Davey nodded. ‘They’re just for show now, Miss. And to keep Mum happy.’
‘Well, that’s the most important thing.’ She flashed him a big smile. She really did have the loveliest eyes, Davey thought.
While Ms Maro and some Year Six quolls directed people to their seats, the cricketers set up and took their positions. At the same time, the choir of echidnas filed onto the temporary stage.
Ms Maro spoke a few words of welcome, then Bella grabbed the microphone. ‘I’m Bella Ferosi, school captain and the choir’s lead soprano,’ she said, giving her echidna spines a flick. ‘Today we’re singing the school song. It’s called “Give Your Best – If Possible”, after the school motto.’
Sunil gave a friendly wave in the direction of the choir. ‘Check out Clouter,’ he whispered.
Davey glanced over. Mo stood in the middle of the back row, his shoulders slumped and teeth bared. His furry ears were lopsided and his nose had smudged. He looked like the most miserable echidna ever born.
The choir burst into song, but Davey could tell even from a distance that Mo wasn’t singing. For one thing, his mouth didn’t move once.
When the singing was over and the applause had died down, it was time for the bandicoot gymnasts. Once the last vault had been executed, the lawn bowls team trooped onto the grass beside the stage.
As the team played a mock tournament, Mr Mudge gave a commentary.
Once again, Davey thought how slow and dull the game seemed, but the kids were genuinely enjoying it. As for Mr Mudge, well, his ears glowed a rosy peach as he described every move of the players and explained the rules.
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br /> ‘There’s nothing like it,’ he concluded. ‘Skill, luck, strategy, action, excitement. It’s all of these rolled into one glossy, beautiful bowling ball of a game.’ Davey saw Mr Mudge glance at Mrs Trundle. ‘Wouldn’t you agree?’
Mrs Trundle’s eye hadn’t twitched all morning and it didn’t start now. Instead, she smiled. ‘Mr Mudge, you have taken the words right out of my mouth.’
At that moment, Ms Maro stepped forward. ‘Thank you, Mr Mudge, Mrs Trundle. Now I have the pleasure of introducing the school cricket team. And what a team they are!’ She looked across at the cricketers. ‘Okay, guys, hit it!’
As planned, Sunil bowled to George, who hit it neatly to Kevin, who caught it on the bounce, and George ran for one. Sunil bowled an inswinger to Ivy, who hit it neatly to Talia at cover, who threw it to Kevin, who came in to bowl. Kevin’s leg break went through, as intended, to Dylan, the keeper, who stumped George, at which point Davey tossed his crutches aside and ran to the crease with Kaboom. As previously agreed, Kevin bowled a flipper. Davey spun like a ballerina, swapped his hands and performed his amazing switch hit as if he were playing for Australia.
The ball sailed through the air like a heat-seeking missile. It grazed Mr Mudge’s left ear, which spontaneously turned from peach to purple. But just as Mr Mudge was about to explode, the crowd cheered.
‘Out!’ It was Mo. He was standing by the cake stall and had managed to get his hands to the ball. But already he was toppling backwards. With a crash, he fell into the cakes and dropped the ball, sending cupcakes, muffins and toffees flying in every direction.
The kindy kids had been sitting quietly on the mats at the front watching the display. Now they jumped to their feet and ran laughing and shouting after the baked goods.
While the parents and teachers rounded up the kindies and cakes, Ms Maro helped the cricketers and bowlers put away their gear. ‘That was a wonderful display,’ she said to Sunil and Davey, as they packed the wickets and bails into carry cases.
‘Thanks, Miss. Glad you enjoyed it,’ Sunil said.
‘You boys won’t know what to do with yourselves, now you’re finished with detention, will you?’ There was sympathy in Ms Maro’s voice.
Sunil smiled so his dimple showed. ‘Guess not. What’ll we do, Warner?’
‘Not sure. Play lawn bowls, I guess.’
‘Mr Mudge and Mrs Trundle certainly enjoy it,’ Ms Maro said, her brown eyes sparkling. ‘You might find you like it.’
Sunil shrugged. ‘Maybe.’
‘Hmmm.’ Davey looked up at Ms Maro. ‘You never know,’ he said, smiling.
But he did know. Cricket was his game, and it always would be. For one thing, in lawn bowls they didn’t use bats. What kind of game was that? And how could he possibly play a game without Kaboom?
It wasn’t worth thinking about.
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THE KABOOM KID – THE BIG SWITCH
First published in Australia in 2014 by
Simon & Schuster (Australia) Pty Limited
Suite 19A, Level 1, 450 Miller Street, Cammeray, NSW 2062
www.SimonandSchuster.com
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Visit our website at www.simonandschuster.com.au
© David Warner and J.V. McGee 2014
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher.
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Author: Warner, David Andrew, author.
Title: The kaboom kid: the big switch/David Warner and J.V. McGee.
ISBN: 9781925030785 (paperback)
9781925030792 (ebook)
Target Audience: Upper primary school students.
Subjects: Warner, David Andrew.
Cricket – Australia – Juvenile literature.
Cricket players – Australia – Juvenile literature.
Cricket – Batting – Juvenile literature.
Other Authors: McGee, J. V., author.
Dewey Number: 796.3580994
Cover design by Hannah Janzen
Cover and internal illustrations by Jules Faber
Inside cover photograph of adult David Warner © Quinn Rooney/Getty Images