Hit for Six Page 3

  ‘Made quite a mess, he did. Some of the members were very upset,’ Trevor continued.

  Davey shoved his hands in his pockets and stared at the ground. ‘I – I – I’m really sorry,’ he stuttered.

  ‘Thanks Davey.’ Trevor lowered his voice. ‘This lot need stirring up every now and then, if you ask me.’

  Davey looked up. He wasn’t sure, but he thought he saw a twinkle in the old man’s eye.

  ‘Do you like lawn bowls?’ Trevor asked.

  ‘Yeah?’ Davey sounded about as convincing as Benny did when asked if the Sluggers had a chance.

  Trevor nodded. ‘It’s not for everyone. Grab some gloves and get to work weeding with me. I’m sure you’re not too pleased to be here, but I’m grateful for some help. My back’s not what it used to be.’

  Davey thought Trevor looked really fit and strong for his age. ‘What about the green?’ he asked.

  ‘We’ll get to that. Plenty of time.’

  Davey picked up a pair of gardening gloves and got to work. He hadn’t even noticed the gardens when he was here for the excursion. The bowling green was surrounded by garden beds filled with flowers and small shrubs.

  Weeding was boring, but after a while Davey kind of zoned out and didn’t mind it so much. Trevor whistled as he worked and it was nice to be outside in the fresh air. It was better than being in detention or picking up rubbish at school.

  ‘You’ll probably want to get off to school soon,’ Trevor said when they had finished the final garden bed.

  Davey stretched. His shoulders and back ached. He’d never realised gardening was such physical work. ‘See you this afternoon, then,’ he said and picked up his bag.

  He was wheeling his bike out when he noticed a familiar face.

  It was Josh Jarrett. He was walking to school with a few other boys from Shimmer Bay Primary.

  Davey thought about turning around, but it was too late. Josh had seen him.

  ‘Warner?’ Josh called. ‘Given up on cricket, then?’

  ‘You wish,’ Davey retorted.

  ‘Maybe it’s time for you to retire. Lawn bowls might be more your speed!’ Josh erupted in fits of laughter.

  Trevor and Davey shared a look.

  ‘I heard about your little bet!’ Josh continued. ‘Warner here reckons he can hit six sixes during our game,’ he explained to his mates.

  Everyone burst out laughing.

  ‘That little squirt?’ asked one of Josh’s friends.

  Josh nodded and pointed at Davey.

  Davey said nothing. Trevor looked intrigued.

  ‘Six sixes in a game against me . . . ?’ Josh slapped his knee. ‘You’re dreaming!’

  Davey met Josh’s gaze coolly. He was becoming immune to others laughing at him. ‘See you at the game, Josh.’

  Josh walked off laughing.

  ‘Let me guess: he’s an excellent cricket player, even if he is a bit arrogant,’ Trevor said.

  ‘His team is current number one and he also plays for the rep side.’

  ‘Yep, I hate him already.’

  Trevor pulled his cap further down his head and got back to work. ‘See you this arvo, then.’

  Davey took that as a signal to head off to school.

  He thought about what Josh had said as he rode to school. He now had very little time to practise big-hitting and Josh would make sure everyone found out about the bet.

  Davey was going to be the laughing stock of the whole town.

  CHAPTER 8

  SLEEP ON IT

  For the rest of the day, Davey couldn’t stop yawning. This gave Mudge a great deal of satisfaction.

  ‘Tired from doing some honest work for once, Warner?’ the teacher asked with a smirk.

  Davey thought he had a nerve – Mudge was always exhausted.

  ‘That’s the trouble with your generation – no work ethic.’ This inspired Mudge to launch into a monologue about how the values of ‘young people these days’ were on the decline.

  Davey blocked Mudge out. He was thinking about how to get some cricket training into his already packed week.

  At least Mudge seemed to have calmed down about the Max incident now Davey was serving his penance.

  Mo, on the other hand, wouldn’t leave Davey alone. ‘Not much time for batting practice with all the gardening you’ll be doing!’ he whispered to Davey while Mudge’s back was turned.

  ‘That was low,’ Davey hissed back. ‘How can I practise my hitting if I’m stuck at the bowls club every waking minute?’

  Mo leaned in so close that Davey could smell his breath. Phee-ew!

  ‘Not my problem, Warner.’

  ‘Can I help you two?’ Davey looked up to see Mudge standing over them both.

  ‘No thank you, Sir,’ said Mo innocently. ‘David and I were just discussing the lawn bowls assignment, Sir.’

  This placated Mudge, who went back to droning on about wayward youth and how unemployable they all were.

  Mo winked at Davey. ‘No Whopper Chomps for you, Warner.’

  Davey didn’t reply. As much as he hated to admit it, Mo had him. He had him right where he wanted him.

  Sunil, Kevin and George were still playing cricket at Little Park when Davey rode his bike there that evening. He’d come straight from the bowls club. There were still a few minutes left of daylight and Davey had been itching to practise a new batting trick he’d thought about all day.

  ‘Guys, the legendary MS Dhoni had a brilliant helicopter hit that always got him sixes,’ he announced, picking up Sunil’s bat to demonstrate. The famous Indian player would hit the ball upwards and then follow through with his bat twirling above his shoulders in a circular motion. When played well, it looked like a helicopter rotor.

  Sunil guffawed. ‘This I’ve got to see.’

  ‘I know, I need to practise it, but maybe I could use it to hit a six off a good-length ball.’ Davey stifled a yawn. ‘Borrow your bat?’ he asked Sunil.

  ‘Sure, I’ll bowl.’

  Davey grabbed his helmet and fastened the straps. This was a trick that required head protection.

  Sunil walked back up to his mark and turned to face Davey. Kevin got into position as wicket-keeper and George fielded at first slip.

  Sunil went easy on Davey and the first ball was slow compared to what he’d have to face against Shimmer Bay. He swung hard at the ball and tried to spin around in a circular movement after the bat. He spun so fast he nearly fell over.

  ‘You need strong arms and a really fast bat speed for the helicopter shot to work,’ Sunil pointed out.

  Davey knew his mate was right.

  ‘Bowl on a good length,’ Davey instructed, ‘and let me see what I can do.’

  Sunil bowled the next one short of a length and as it passed Davey at waist height, he swung at the ball but only succeeded in sending it straight up into the air.

  The following ball was well up, but Davey swung too late and only managed to pop the ball straight back to Sunil.

  ‘Not as easy as it looks on YouTube. It’s hard to time it right,’ Davey lamented.

  But he kept practising and after several more tries he succeeded in hitting a beauty right out of the park.

  It was almost dark. ‘Better go finish my essay for Mudge,’ said Sunil.

  ‘Don’t tell me that’s due tomorrow?’ Davey asked with a groan.

  ‘Okay, I won’t!’

  Davey gave him a look. ‘Is it?’

  Sunil nodded.

  Davey sighed. He was utterly spent. ‘Better get to it, then,’ he muttered and headed across the road to his house.

  Davey’s mum had kept his dinner warm. He realised he was starving and bolted down his favourite meal of sausages and mash.

  ‘Thanks, Mum!’ Davey gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and headed to his room.

  He opened his schoolbook and stared at the blank page. The lines began to blur. His muscles were sore, his stomach was full. It had been a long day.

  Within minut
es, his head had fallen onto the desk. Davey was fast asleep.

  CHAPTER 9

  CAUGHT OUT

  Davey spent the next morning before school helping Trevor at the bowling club. They laid new turf to try and patch the holes Max had made.

  ‘Not bad,’ said Trevor when he saw the job Davey had done. The green was already beginning to look more green than brown. ‘I’ll water it while you’re at school.

  ‘School?’ Davey checked his watch. He was going to be late!

  Davey rode like crazy and made it to school just as class was about to begin. He slipped into the room and quietly took his seat. He felt a deep burn in his thighs from pedalling so fast. His muscles were going to stiffen up sitting all day.

  Bella caught his eye and held up a piece of paper and mouthed the words ‘A-plus’ at him. Davey remembered with a jolt: The essay! He hadn’t done it.

  ‘Oh no!’ Davey hoped like crazy that Mudge would forget to ask for their essays until after lunch. Maybe then he could write his during the lunch break.

  ‘Shall I collect the essays?’ Bella Ferosi asked Mudge, with a triumphant look at Davey.

  Davey groaned. So much for that.

  Mudge clapped his hands together eagerly. ‘Thank you, Bella. Lovely to see someone with drive and initiative.’

  Bella was out of her chair in less time than it took to say Teacher’s Pet.

  Davey shot Sunil a panicked look. The friends had to sit in opposite corners of the room so they couldn’t talk about cricket. Mudge loathed cricket almost as much as he loathed students who didn’t hand in their assignments.

  Sunil understood immediately. He shot his hand up.

  ‘Yes, Sunil?’ Mudge asked.

  Sunil flashed his dimple. ‘I was wondering if you’d mind repeating yesterday’s equations, Sir? I didn’t quite understand.’

  ‘Not like you, Mr Deep.’ Mudge began writing out an equation on the whiteboard.

  Davey gave Sunil the thumbs up. Maybe the distraction technique would work.

  With his back still turned, Mudge asked Bella, ‘Miss Ferosi, how are you going with those assignments?’

  Or maybe not. Davey felt doomed.

  Bella was making her way around the room slowly. She ticked each name off a list with a determined flourish as she collected each paper.

  ‘Nearly done, Mr Mudge.’ Bella moved a little faster.

  ‘Take a seat, Miss Ferosi, I’ll collect the rest myself.’

  Bella handed Mudge the pile of essays. Mudge scanned the checklist.

  ‘Just two to go. Mr Clouter and Mr Warner.’ Mudge held out his hand impatiently to Davey and Mo.

  Mo handed over two sheets of paper held together by a silver paperclip. Mudge added it to his pile.

  ‘Warner?’ Mudge clicked his fingers impatiently. ‘Come on, we don’t have all day.’

  Davey gulped. ‘It’s like this, Sir . . .’

  Mudge raised an eyebrow. ‘You’re not going to tell us your dog ate your homework, are you, Warner?’

  There were a few sniggers from around the room.

  ‘Although, knowing your mutt, I wouldn’t put it past him.’

  Davey squirmed.

  ‘With all the extra work at the bowling club, I . . .’

  ‘Yes?’ Mudge leaned over him.

  ‘With all the extra work at the bowling club, I . . .’

  ‘Spit it out, Warner!’

  ‘I fell asleep, Sir,’ Davey finished lamely.

  Mudge rocked back and forth on his heels. ‘A shining example to the rest of the class about the pitfalls of leaving everything to the last minute.’

  ‘Sorry, Sir,’ Davey added.

  ‘You will be!’ Mudge brightened up slightly. He obviously lived for moments like this. ‘You’re on lunchtime detention for the next two weeks. And I want that essay finished by Monday.’

  ‘But with the work I’m doing at the bowling club, I won’t have any time,’ Davey argued.

  ‘I own you for the next two weeks!’ Mudge roared. ‘Am I clear?!’

  Davey knew it was pointless to argue. ‘Crystal, Sir.’ He slumped lower in his seat.

  Mo nudged him sharply with his elbow. ‘Lord and Master,’ he guffawed.

  Bella, who sat on the other side of Davey, leaned in close to him. ‘I hope you’ve been practising your cheers,’ she smiled brightly.

  Bella was right. In no time, Davey would be wearing a pink skirt and chanting netball songs. He was sunk.

  Now Davey had absolutely no time to practise his big-hitting. And there was no way in the world he was going to win a merit award. He imagined wearing pink and cheering the netball team while Mo snacked on Whopper Chomps and Davey was his personal slave.

  He couldn’t bear to think about it.

  CHAPTER 10

  ROLLING, ROLLING, ROLLING

  At the bowling club after school, Trevor led Davey to the storage shed. Inside was a huge, ancient-looking metal roller.

  ‘You’ve got to be kidding.’

  The roller looked more like a museum relic than a functioning piece of machinery.

  ‘You know you can get ride-on rollers these days like they use on cricket pitches?’ Davey asked.

  ‘Is that so?’ Trevor said with a wink. ‘Well, we’ve got nothing that fancy here.’

  He lifted the handle and began to pull. ‘Stop your gawping and come and help me,’ he said, straining against the weight. ‘This thing weighs a ton.’

  Davey grabbed the other side of the handle and helped Trevor pull the roller out onto the green. It was slow going. Like a slug.

  ‘We’ve done the best we can with the grass. Just a matter of time before it grows back,’ Trevor explained. ‘But now we need a level playing surface.’

  ‘You want me to push this thing?’ Davey asked.

  Trevor looked around. ‘I don’t see anyone else lining up for the job, and I’ll be mowing the professional green.’

  He nodded his head for Davey to get to work.

  Davey inspected the roller. Yikes.

  ‘Okay. I can do this,’ he told himself. He leaned down, picked up the steel handle and leaned all of his weight into it as he pushed. The roller barely moved.

  Davey tried again. He grunted with the effort. The roller moved a few centimetres.

  ‘Yes!’

  There was a smattering of applause. ‘That’ll toughen you up,’ said an old man who was watching him from the side of the green.

  Another old codger gave Davey the thumbs up.

  ‘Young people today don’t know about physical work.’

  The other oldie agreed and they fell into a whinge-fest about how things were so much harder back in their day.

  ‘I’ll show you wrinklies,’ Davey muttered to himself. He braced his arms, keeping them slightly bent but strong, and leaned forward with all his might. The roller moved forward with a jolt and this time Davey was able to keep the momentum going.

  After what felt like four hours but was only ten minutes, Davey had rolled three metres of green. He stopped for a break.

  The old codgers were still watching and one of them motioned for him to join them.

  ‘Not bad for a young punk,’ said one.

  ‘Thanks,’ Davey said flatly. His shoulders were already beginning to ache.

  ‘You know,’ said the other codger, ‘Trevor can roll this whole green in the time it took you to do that measly effort.’

  Measly effort? That was a bit harsh.

  ‘Has Trevor always worked here?’ Davey asked.

  ‘Old Trev? Nah, he used to work in cricket.’

  Davey’s ears pricked up. ‘Cricket?’

  ‘He looked after all the big pitches – The Gabba, SCG, you name it. The man knows his cricket. He has a few stories to tell, does Trev.’

  The members fell back into their own conversation and Davey realised he’d been dismissed. If Trevor could do it, then Davey Warner could. He resolved to finish rolling the green.

  He went bac
k to the roller and gave it his all.

  Davey was thoroughly exhausted by the time he got home. He’d had a major upper body workout at the bowls club, and a lower body workout on his pushie riding the ten kilometres there and back twice a day. All he wanted to do was eat and go to bed as soon as he got home.

  Davey’s mum had other ideas. ‘David Warner, get in here right now. You’ve got some explaining to do.’

  Uh oh. Davey froze in the kitchen doorway, but he was too tired to make a run for it.

  He found his mum pacing the lounge room. That was a bad sign.

  She pointed to the couch. ‘Sit.’

  Davey sat down.

  ‘I just don’t understand,’ his mum began. ‘First there’s this business with the bowls club and you and Max running riot. Now, Mr Mudge says you don’t even bother handing in your assignments.’

  Davey groaned. ‘It wasn’t like that, Mum.’

  ‘If you put the same amount of effort into your schoolwork as you do into cricket, you’d be top of your class!’

  ‘Sorry, Mum. I did try but I fell asleep.’

  ‘Aha!’ His mum pounced. ‘Fell asleep because you’re so tired from playing cricket every minute of the day. Well, that’s all stopping right now.’

  ‘Er, what’s stopping?’

  ‘Cricket. No more until you write the essay. I know you have a big game coming up, but you won’t be playing in it until the work is done.’

  ‘But Mum!’ Davey wanted to explain about the bet and hitting six sixes, but he was worried it would make her even angrier.

  He was starting to think she might be right.

  His mum gave him some left-over corned beef and vegetables for dinner. He could barely lift the fork to his lips because he was so tired.

  ‘Bed!’ said his mum, once he’d eaten.

  ‘Bed,’ sighed Davey as he sank into his mattress.

  He stretched out his aching shoulders and fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

  CHAPTER 11

  BEHIND THE SCENES

  Davey was finished.

  He looked back over his work from the last few days and felt a deep sense of pride. His arm muscles felt it too. He had worked all weekend and the social players’ bowling green was now perfectly rolled.