| |
Charlie arrives on the bus late on Friday night and after we set up the blow-up mattress on the floor in my room, she orders me to pull up the Girls in Cricket blog page. “Check this out,” she says. “My post has already got some comments on it.”
I click through to the page on my laptop and scan through the article. Despite my protests, Charlie left in the part where she described me as a ‘match winner’ and predicted that I’d be the leading run scorer for the tournament. It’s not that I don’t think I could be, but it’s a lot of pressure to live up to, even if it is just Charlie saying it.
I scroll down to the comments. “Wow, fifteen comments. Is that good?”
Charlie grins. “Crazy good. They normally get five to ten, depending on the topic.”
“Why so many on yours?” I ask.
Charlie leans across me, taking control of my mouse and keyboard. She taps away and when she’s finished, she hovers over my shoulder as her Facebook feed pops up on my screen. She stretches across me and clicks on a link, and then stands back and grins. “It got some extra exposure.”
“What am I looking at?”
“They put it up on their Facebook page and added a video. People are clicking through because of that.”
I click on the video and watch as a ball sails out of the nets. I know that shot. It was taken at training months ago when Ravi was supposedly taking some practice film for his Media Studies assignment for school. A voice-over comes on as the camera zooms out to show me hitting balls over Troy’s head. ‘Alice Henderson, in just her first year in competition, won leading run scorer for the Maryborough Seconds T20 Championship, as well as Batter of the Year for the Wolves Firsts. With a T20 strike rate of 208 and a high score of 57, she’s definitely one to watch in the upcoming Queensland Under 18s State Championships.’
“Ravi,” I groan. “How did you get this?”
“Easy,” Charlie replies. “I asked him if I could use some of his footage for my article. This is what he sent through.”
“So you and Ravi are best buds now?” I tease.
“Jealous?” Charlie fires back with a grin. “Check out the comments.”
“Do I really want to?”
“I think you do,” Charlie replies.
I turn back to the screen and click through to the comments on the post.
“‘Who’s Alice Henderson?’?” I read. I turn to Charlie. “Why would someone even say that?”
Charlie shrugs. “It’s online, Alice. Who knows. But look.” She reaches over again and scrolls down. “They’re comparing you to Jules Livingstone.”
“Are they?” I read the rest of the comments. ‘Reminds me of a young Jules Livingstone. Very similar straight drives’, one comment says. That’s not really surprising since Jules gave me a masterclass on straight drives at camp last year. It’s funny how I didn’t even know who Jules Livingstone was until I met Charlie. And now I know who she is, it feels weird being compared to her. She’s so amazingly good, I could never live up to her.
Another comment says ‘The next Jules Livingstone?’
“I can totally see why they’ve said that,” Charlie says. “You have a similar playing style.”
“It’s a huge compliment but Jules and I have nothing in common,” I say, a little embarrassed at the attention the video is getting. “Aren’t you jealous about that?”
“About what?”
“Me being compared to Jules. She’s your favourite player, not mine.”
Charlie shakes her head and waves me away. “No way. You can’t compare me to her anyway. She’s not a ‘keeper.”
“Who would you want to be compared to then?” I ask.
“Julia Price,” Charlie says, not missing a beat. “One of our best ‘keeper-batters ever.”
“I’ve never heard of her,” I reply.
Charlie rolls her eyes. “Sometimes I wonder if you’re really a cricketer at all, Alice.”
“Why?”
“Because,” she says, pulling a pillow onto her lap. “You need to know your history if you want to be a better player.”
I roll my eyes. “Why would I want to do that when I have you?”