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  Hi there,

  I’m David Warner, Australian cricketer, and I’m really excited to introduce you to my next book in the The Kaboom Kid series.

  Little Davey Warner is ‘the Kaboom Kid’, a cricket-mad eleven-year-old who wants to play cricket with his mates every minute of the day, just like I did as a kid.

  Davey gets into all sorts of scrapes with his friends, but mainly he has a great time playing cricket for his rep cricket team, the South-East Slammers, and helping them win matches.

  If you’re into cricket, and I know you are, then you will love these books. Enjoy The Kaboom Kid.

  David Warner

  Chapter 1: The Big League

  Chapter 2: Bella Bamboozle

  Chapter 3: Bad News Bus

  Chapter 4: Road Trip Rebellion

  Chapter 5: Whackers Warfare

  Chapter 6: Cast Away

  Chapter 7: The Touring Blues

  Chapter 8: Dog Eat Dog

  Chapter 9: Sleepless with the Shorthorns

  Chapter 10: Hullaballoo Bullaballoo

  Chapter 11: Game On

  Chapter 12: Team Spirit

  Chapter 13: Slammed!

  CHAPTER 1

  THE BIG LEAGUE

  Life doesn’t get much better than this, thought Davey Warner.

  Sure, Flatter Park with its half-dead grass and rough stony ground looked more like a convict’s paddock than a cricket field, but to Davey it was home to many of his best memories. Like, right now he was having a hit in the nets with his best mates, Sunil Deep, Kevin McNab and George Pepi before rep team practice began. It was a dream come true.

  Davey tightened his grip on his beloved Kaboom bat, tapped the ground and swung through. He wanted to practise his cover drive and was itching for the next delivery.

  ‘Anytime this week, Deep!’ Davey called.

  Davey’s best mate and epic fast bowler Sunil Deep had also made the South-East Slammers rep side and he was vice-captain. He was taking the position seriously and his pre-bowling routine was becoming more and more drawn out.

  ‘Or even this year!’ Davey added cheekily.

  ‘You’re an impatient man, Warner!’ Sunil retorted. ‘You’d score more runs if you were more patient!’

  ‘Spare me the lecture. Just give it your best shot, Glenn McGrath – unleash the fury!’

  Max, Davey’s dog, barked in agreement. Yeah, hurry up, he seemed to say. Max loved playing cricket as much as the boys and was an excellent fielder.

  ‘Fast bowlers need a long run-up, and I need to warm up properly to prevent long-term injury!’

  Sunil continued with a series of arm stretches. Davey shook his head at his friend. Ever since Sunil had made the rep side he’d begun speaking like a cricket dictionary. Sometimes Davey had to look up some of the words Sunil spouted.

  Finally, with the longest run-up in cricket history, Sunil thundered in and let one fly. It pitched well up, just outside off stump and right in Davey’s hitting zone.

  Davey smacked the leather straight back past Sunil and it made a satisfying THWACK. The ball flew high into the sky.

  Mine! Mine! Mine! Max seemed to chant as he took off after the ball. His wiry and nimble body allowed him to overtake George Pepi with ease. Max leapt high into the air and caught the ball on the full, off the fence at mid-off.

  ‘WAY TO GO, MAX!’ Kevin called from the outfield.

  George scooped the ball up from Max’s jaws. ‘You’re on fire, Warner, and you’re out!’

  ‘No, I’m not!

  ‘One bounce into the fence and Max took it on the full, so you’re out!’

  ‘Since when did we have that rule? One hand, one bounce is the rule and Max doesn’t have hands, so –’

  ‘Just give someone else a bat, would you? We all need to practise.’

  ‘Okay, just one or maybe two more . . .’

  Davey felt like he was playing well but always felt he could do better. It seemed like there was electricity running through his veins. He had been feeling terrific ever since their first win against the City Strikers.

  A few more teammates began to straggle in. Practice for the South-East Slammers rep team was twice a week in the evenings at Flatter Park. Davey saw his friend Tay Tui arrive and he gave her a wave. Sunil, Tay and Davey had made the team and all three felt the pressure to lift their game.

  Davey smashed the next ball with satisfaction and turned to see his new coach, Dermot, approaching.

  Wanting to show Dermot just how good his form was, Davey swung madly at the next ball from Sunil. But he only managed to edge it into the back of the net where second slip would be standing.

  ‘Warner, you need to be selective. Aggression is all very well, but no batsman, even Don Bradman, could hit every ball to the boundary. Remember aggression, yes, but selective aggression.’ Dermot’s words rushed out in one monosyllabic bark. It was a wonder the man had any vocal cords left.

  Davey pulled a face. He had expected to get praise for his batting, because he was killing it!

  ‘Look to Josh Jarrett if you need help,’ Dermot growled. ‘There’s a reason he’s our star player and team captain.’

  At the mention of Josh’s name, Davey bristled. He’d rather die than ask Josh Jarrett for advice. Davey and Josh were arch-rivals. Now that Josh was captain, Davey found it harder to hide how much Mr Perfect annoyed him. However, he had no choice but to suck it up.

  Just then the golden boy arrived.

  ‘Jarrett,’ Davey nodded curtly to Josh.

  ‘Don’t let me interrupt you, Warner, you need the practice,’ Josh smirked with a twinkle in his eye.

  ‘How’s the ankle?’ Davey fired back. It was a low blow and he knew it. In their last game, Josh had been unable to play as he had twisted his ankle. It had been Davey who had helped push the team through to a win. Mentioning Josh’s ankle was Davey’s one and only trump card.

  ‘I’m back in top form, Warner. Better watch yourself.’ Josh tossed a ball to Davey a little too hard. ‘See for yourself!’

  Davey caught the ball and the impact stung his hands. He narrowed his eyes at Josh.

  ‘And watch how you speak to your captain,’ Josh added in a low voice.

  ‘Bring it in!’ Dermot clapped his hands together and gestured for them to gather around. Kevin and George took their cue and headed home. They hadn’t made the rep team, but still liked to get in as much practice as possible.

  Davey waved goodbye to his mates and noticed a familiar figure walking across the park to join them. Ms Maro!

  What’s she doing here? Davey wondered.

  Ms Maro was a teacher at Davey’s school, Sandhill Flats Primary. To say that everyone loved her was an understatement.

  ‘Got some news,’ Dermot announced gruffly. ‘Your next game is an away game.’

  Awesome! Davey thought.

  There was an immediate buzz of excited chatter. An away game meant they got to travel out of town, stay in a hotel and maybe even miss a few days of school!

  ‘All right, all right!’ Dermot held up a hand for silence. ‘This is Ms Maro. She’s kindly volunteered to chaperone you lot, because I have other commitments.’

  Double awesome! Davey’s day was going from excellent to All Time.

  ‘We’ll have so much fun,’ beamed Ms Maro. She fixed Davey with a bright smile and he felt all warm and gooey inside.

  ‘Where are we going, Ms Maro?’ Sunil asked in the special voice he reserved for speaking to adults.

  ‘To a small country town about three hours’ drive from here. The team we’re playing is called . . .’ Ms Maro consulted a piece of paper, ‘the North-West Whackers!’

  ‘Uh oh,’ Lachlan Peterson called out.

  Sunil sucked in his breath. Caspar Chan
groaned. Max whined.

  The excited hum petered out to complete silence.

  The Whackers had a reputation all over the state for being a fiercely competitive team. They were all hand-picked elite athletes and their coach was a former Australian player.

  Davey sneaked a glance at Josh. Even their captain’s usually tanned complexion had gone pale.

  CHAPTER 2

  BELLA BAMBOOZLE

  It wasn’t until the next morning that Davey realised exactly what the Slammers were in for.

  His older brother Steve screwed up his face when Davey told him who they were playing. ‘Nice knowing you, pal,’ he said, patting Davey on the back.

  Word had spread like wildfire. The Slammers playing the Whackers was juicy gossip at Sandhill Flats Primary. There was nothing like news that someone was going to get a pounding to get tongues wagging. As Davey entered the school grounds the next morning, everyone was staring at him.

  ‘Sorry, Davey,’ said a kid in Year Five who had never spoken to Davey before.

  A group of Year Three kids shot Davey looks of sympathy as they walked past.

  Then there were kids like Mo Clouter, a large lump of cabbage who made it his life’s business to taunt Davey. Mo took one look at Davey and burst out laughing.

  ‘Prepare to get SLAMMED,’ Mo bawled loudly between fits of laughter. ‘Get it? Slammers? Slammed?’

  ‘Witty for Clouter,’ Sunil commented drily as he joined Davey in the quadrangle.

  ‘He used words with more than one syllable,’ Davey agreed.

  ‘I heard the Whackers have a six-foot-tall fast bowler who can bowl at 100 kilometres an hour. AND a wicket-keeper with a beard who hit Shane Warne for six at the MCG.’

  Mo cracked up again. He could hardly stand and had to be half-carried away by his friends, Tony and Nero. Davey and Sunil waved cheerfully to the bully.

  ‘For once the numbskull has a point,’ Sunil said with his smile still in place. ‘The Whackers are legendary.’

  ‘Maybe the Whackers are saying the same thing about us.’

  Sunil gave the idea some thought. ‘Nah, they’re not.’

  The pair fell silent as they watched their teacher, Mr Mudge, walk past deep in conversation with Mrs Trundle, the school principal.

  ‘War-ner,’ Mudge drawled in the way that only Mudge could, ‘the bell has gone, get to class!’

  Davey snapped to attention. ‘Yes, Mr Mudge.’

  The friends took off together across the concrete to their classroom, 6M for Mudge.

  ‘Why does Mudge never call you out even though you are standing right next to me?’ Davey asked. ‘What’s your secret?’

  ‘You don’t know how to charm like I do,’ Sunil smiled and flashed his dimple. ‘And you’re not exactly his favourite person.’

  Sunil was right. Mudge liked Davey as much as he liked head lice.

  They entered the classroom to find Kevin, George and another Sandhills teammate, Ivy Mundine, in a huddle at George’s desk.

  ‘What’s up?’ Davey asked his friends.

  ‘We’re coming with you to the game!’ Ivy announced with a huge grin on her face. ‘We’ve cleared it with our parents and Ms Maro.’

  ‘How did you swing that?’ This was great news to Davey. Having friends around when you got a pummelling was a good thing.

  ‘Meet your new cheer squad! They didn’t go for it at first, but we pulled the “country air will do us good” angle, team spirit and resilience, and they finally bought it.’

  ‘Awesome! We’re going to need all the help we can get.’

  Kevin and Sunil high-fived, Ivy and George air-punched while chanting ‘Slammers, Slammers!’

  Davey noticed Bella Ferosi, school captain and champion all-rounder, was listening in. Her usually perky expression had been replaced with a small frown.

  Just then Mudge entered the room. ‘Settle down!’ Mudge dabbed sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. ‘Take your seats, 6M.’

  Davey reluctantly left his friends, as they all sat in far corners of the room so that they couldn’t talk about cricket. Mudge hated cricket.

  Davey slipped into his seat beside Bella and Mo, his two least-favourite people in the school.

  ‘You’re going to get whacked!’ Mo whispered. ‘Get it? Whackers? Whacked?’

  Davey ignored Mo. Bella’s little frown had set in a hard straight line. Davey was tempted to tell her it didn’t suit her, but thought better of it.

  The morning dragged by. Mudge took the opportunity to lecture them at length about colonial history and how easy they all had it now.

  By lunchtime Davey was itching to have a hit. He met up with the others at their usual spot at the bottom of C playground. Davey was making short work of his sandwich so he could start playing, when Ivy ran up.

  ‘Bella alert,’ she blurted out, puffed from running.

  ‘What’s Miss Perfect up to now?’ Davey asked through a mouthful of sandwich. It came out sounding like ‘HDHAJDHADUGDG?’

  ‘She heard about us joining the trip as cheer squad and she’s gone to see Ms Maro!’

  ‘NOOO!’ said everyone everywhere who overheard.

  ‘HDHAJD!’ Davey added. He swallowed quickly.

  Bella had to be stopped. She maintained an A-plus average despite having a schedule busier than the prime minister. Since losing a bet to Davey and cheering for the Sluggers, she’d taken an interest in cricket, and even thought of herself as part of the cricket crew. Bella was a compulsive bossyboots. Despite being a spelling-bee champ, she didn’t know the meaning of the word FUN.

  The friends hurried over to the Staff Room and peered through the window. Sure enough, there were Bella and Ms Maro deep in conversation. Guessing from the smiles on their faces and the fact that they were dancing in sync, Davey figured that they were too late.

  Bella noticed their faces pressed up against the glass. She flicked her neat brown ponytail and grinned like a Cheshire cat. Perky Bella was back.

  Ms Maro noticed the sea of faces watching her. She opened the door and stepped outside. ‘David, we were just talking about you.’

  The thought of Ms Maro talking about him made Davey weak at the knees.

  ‘Bella has kindly agreed to volunteer her services as head cheerleader when we go away next week.’

  Coming from Ms Maro it almost sounded like a good idea, but Davey knew better.

  ‘We already have a crew, miss: Kevin, George and Ivy . . .’

  ‘They don’t have the experience Bella has.’ Ms Maro smiled at Bella. ‘I think it’s very generous of her to volunteer her time. She’s terribly busy and cricket is not usually her sport of choice.’

  ‘No, it’s not,’ Davey agreed lamely.

  ‘Everyone knows you are going to get beaten,’ Bella announced, ‘but at least you can have a winning cheerleading team on the sidelines.’

  ‘That’s settled, then!’ Ms Maro began humming one of the chants. ‘As long as you are all here, let’s practise a few of Bella’s new steps.’

  Davey groaned inwardly. Everything about the trip now seemed like punishment.

  CHAPTER 3

  BAD NEWS BUS

  The next week was hectic for Davey. Every spare moment was taken up with cricket training or completing extra homework for Mudge, as they were going to miss two days of school.

  Dermot added in extra training sessions before school in an effort to get the team prepared. The night before they were due to leave, Davey crawled into bed completely knackered. He pushed Max off his pillow and flopped down with a sigh.

  Davey’s mum stuck her head in the room. ‘Just wanted to wish you luck. I’m really proud of you. And remember, it’s not about winning or losing, it’s how you play the game that matters.’

  ‘Thanks, Mum,’ said Davey. Even though his mum was wrong – it was almost all about winning – he appreciated her words of encouragement.

  Steve stopped in the doorway. ‘Any last words?’

  Davey rolled
his eyes. ‘Did you ever go up against an unbeatable team?’

  ‘Oh sure,’ Steve replied, ‘lots of times.’

  Davey sat up, eager to hear more. ‘And what happened?’

  ‘We got smashed. Night, Grommet.’

  Davey lay back with a sigh. He knew it was crazy. He knew it seemed impossible. But because everyone in the world thought the Slammers would lose, Davey was even more determined that they would win.

  Would having All Star Josh Jarrett, Sunil Deep and Davey Warner in one team be enough to give them a winning edge?

  Davey woke early. He opened his eyes and felt a rush of adrenaline and dog hair. Max was fast asleep on his pillow, curled up right next to his face.

  ‘Sorry, Max,’ Davey said, giving the sleeping dog a gentle pat. ‘This is one game you can’t come to.’

  Davey glanced up at the Ricky Ponting poster pinned above his bed. He gave Ricky a nod. Despite the blacked-out teeth and goatee Sunil had given Ricky, Davey loved to look to his hero when he was nervous about a game. Being careful not to wake Max, Davey reached up and pulled the poster down. He folded it into small quarters and slipped it in his pocket.

  ‘See you, Muttley,’ Davey whispered, grabbed his bag and left the room.

  Davey’s stomach gave a flip as he approached the bus. This was the real deal. He was playing for a rep side and travelling to an away game. He was one small step closer to playing for Australia!

  Sunil, Kevin and George were already waiting on the pavement alongside the bus. Davey noticed Josh, Caspar Chan, Lachlan Peterson and a few of the other players were standing around together.

  Their tour bus was ancient. It was on the small side, a 20-seater with rusted hub caps and pale blue paint peeling off in patches. It didn’t look like it could go twenty kilometres, let alone two hundred.

  ‘What is this? 1985?’ Davey burst out.

  ‘Maybe we don’t have to worry about losing, cos we’ll never get there!’ Sunil joked.

  ‘Just there will do fine, thanks, boys!’ Bella’s unmistakably perky voice trilled with expert projection across the car park.