Page 57 of Autumn at the Oak Leaf Café
‘Win! Win! Win!’ came a chorus of shouting, as the players patted their knees in unison.
‘Right, let’s go,’ Ruby’s dad said. ‘Rubik, Darren, get out there.’
Against some good bowling, Milton Road’s team made a fairly sedate start. Darren didn’t last long, taking a horrid swipe in an attempt to relieve some pressure and getting caught out on the boundary. He shook his head and grimaced as he came in, tossing his bat on the ground.
‘Should have been six,’ he said. ‘We’re never going to win this.’
‘Don’t give up,’ Madeline said, just as the next wicket fell, the batter out first ball to a huge cheer from the other team. ‘Well, not just yet.’
‘While Ruby’s there, we’ve got a chance,’ Darren said. ‘She’s strangely sedate, though. She needs to be fired up.’
He had barely finished speaking when the next batter was out, caught second ball, the fielding team going crazy with excitement. As the next Milton Road player scrambled to get their pads on and out onto the pitch, Darren sighed.
‘At least you won’t have to give out a load of free coffees.’
Madeline patted him on the arm. ‘Have a little faith. I haven’t batted yet.’
‘Have you ever batted before?’
‘Nope. How hard can it be?’
‘Just hit it,’ Darren said, patting her on the shoulder. ‘That’s all you’ve got to do, really.’
For a while, Milton Road looked like they might have a chance. Ruby and her dad steadied things for a while, creeping them closer. When Ruby’s dad was out, there were still thirty runs to get and only Ivy and Madeline left to bat. The team cheered for Ivy as she lumbered out, sweat already streaming down her face.
‘Come on, Ivy!’ Madeline called. ‘Good luck!’
‘Just hit it!’ Darren shouted.
‘Is she any good?’ Madeline asked as she shifted awkwardly in the leg pads Darren had helped her strap on.
Darren gave her a pained look. ‘She’s scored three runs all season,’ he said, and that was off an inside edge. ‘Right, here we go.’
The bowler ran in.
Ivy’s bat scythed through the air, striking the ball with a hearty clump. It sailed through the air, flying high over the pavilion and landing in the hedge.
Cheers went up from Milton Road’s players. Ivy, who had walked up the pitch a few steps, seemed to give Madeline a long stare before going back to her mark.
‘She’s doing it for the treacle tart,’ Darren said. ‘What a legend. She’s probably got one eye on the most improved player trophy as well.’
The bowler came in again, and Ivy’s bat swung, this time hacking across the line of the ball to send it sailing away behind the wickets, this time landing in a ditch. Milton Road’s players danced with joy while the opposition retrieved it from the mud and wiped it on the grass.
On the next ball, however, Ivy’s luck ran out, as she sent the ball steepling high into the air. As the ball hovered, Milton Road’s players got their hopes up, but the opposition captain took a good catch, and Ivy was out.
‘You’re in,’ Darren said to Madeline. ‘See if you can get Ruby fired up. And when you’re facing, just try to hit it.’
‘Just hit it,’ Madeline said, trying to give him a thumbs up in the thick, padded cricket glove. ‘I’ll try.’
The other team clapped her as she walked out to the middle of the field. It was the first time she had batted in a cricket game since perhaps a casual affair at primary school, and she only remembered what she had to do from watching the other players.
As she reached the wicket, Ruby came wandering over to offer some advice.
‘We’ve got eight balls left and we need eighteen to win. ‘It’s tough, but it’s not impossible. Two balls left this over, and you’re on strike. Just don’t get out and I’ll deal with it the next over.’
Madeline smiled. ‘Stay in and don’t get out?’
‘Yeah, that’s about it.’
