‘Warner! You made it!’ Sunil did a double-take. ‘Hey, a UFO’s landed on your head!’ He pointed at Davey’s granddad’s hat.
‘Hah! And your brain’s running out your ears.’
Davey and Sunil were at the end of the beach where they’d played their Test match the day before. The Sandhill Flats Nippers had also arrived and were setting up their tent for another day of races. It was still early, but the beach was filling fast.
‘Well, I’m glad you’re here,’ Sunil said. He shook his head. ‘You know, we’re chasing a lot of runs.’
‘I reckon we can do it,’ Davey said softly. ‘Hey, look what I found with Clouter.’ He kicked the big black bag at his feet.
‘Clouter!’ Sunil took a step back. ‘What were you doing with that block of wood?’
‘We used his metal detector to find the trophies. They were up in the sandhills.’
Sunil looked at Davey as if he was radioactive. ‘So, where is he now?’
‘He had to get the metal detector home before anyone noticed it was gone. Turns out he forgot to ask his dad first.’ Davey grinned. ‘He was in a bit of a hurry. Disappointed he didn’t find the real treasure, I must say.’
Sunil bent down and unzipped the bag. The trophies glistened in the sun. ‘How’d they end up in the sandhills?’ he asked.
‘I have my theories,’ Davey said cryptically. ‘Don’t know for sure, though.’
Sunil looked at Davey for a moment. ‘Oh well, Bella will be happy,’ he said.
‘Davey! Sunil!’ As if she’d heard him, the school captain was striding across the sand towards them with the rest of the Sandhill Flats Nippers in her wake. ‘You found them!’
‘Yep. Me ’n’ Mo.’
‘How wonderful! Thanks so much! You’ve saved the day!’
Bella grasped Davey with both hands and gave him a hug. He’d never seen her look so happy, not even when she’d received her school captain’s badge.
‘You’re welcome,’ Davey said.
‘Oy, Warner!’ It was Kevin and George. Behind them were Tay and Ivy. They were all licking ice creams. ‘Can you save the day?’ Kevin called.
‘No worries,’ Davey said. ‘So long as you don’t skive off again looking for treasure.’
Kevin shook his head. ‘Nah, I’m done with that. Cricket’s top priority today.’
Davey gave his friend a push. ‘It’s always top priority, McNab. You know that!’
It was Shimmer Bay’s second innings and they were looking strong. Josh Jarrett, Mr Perfect, was scoring some quick singles and twos and generally in good form. Caspar was keeping his part of the bargain, grabbing opportunities when they arose to keep the run rate rising.
The truth was, Sandhill Flats were on the skids. They were now 62 runs behind, and Shimmer Bay were going for quick runs.
Sunil, as he so often did, set an attacking field, pulling his fielders in close. Davey was in slips next to Kevin, with George over at mid-wicket.
Josh was on strike and Davey watched Sunil as he jogged back to his mark. His friend was in deep thought. Davey willed him on. Come on, Deep! Make this one a winner!
Sunil ran in. He bowled a full-length ball on Josh’s off stump. Thinking it was wide, Josh let it go.
Thwack! The ball hit the stump so hard it was knocked clean out of the sand.
The fielders threw up their hands and danced around on the sand. ‘One down!’ Davey ran over to Sunil and slapped him on the back. ‘Keep it up, Deep!’
Sunil just nodded and watched as Georgia with the purple hair made her way onto the pitch. ‘Back in position, Warner,’ he said. ‘This is just the beginning.’
Georgia didn’t look so confident today, Davey thought. Or maybe Sunil had found his rhythm. Because there was a lack of bounce in the sand, Sunil had to keep a good line on a full length, and it was beginning to work for him.
The next to fall was Caspar, for the second time in the match caught behind by Tay for 11.
Things suddenly didn’t seem quite so dire.
But now it was Mikey’s turn. Davey hadn’t spotted him before now – he’d obviously been off buying ice cream or chatting to Nippers or in the sandhills getting up to something. But here he was, his doppelganger, a cheeky grin on his face, strolling confidently onto the pitch.
Davey gave him a little wave. ‘Best of luck, Mikey,’ he said coolly.
‘Thanks!’ Mikey flashed him a broad smile.
‘Warner!’ Sunil was beckoning Davey over. ‘Take him out,’ was all he said, as he handed Davey the ball.
As Davey stopped to survey the field, he gave the tennis ball in his hand a squeeze. It was old and the felt had worn away in places. He could use that to confuse his opponent, he decided. And there was the pitch – bumpy, sandy and totally unpredictable. That would help. He paced out his run-up, stopped and turned.
Mikey was grinning at him from the batter’s crease, but Davey noticed that the other Shimmer Bay players had fallen silent, as if they knew this was a battle of wills.
A battle for justice, more like it, Davey thought to himself.
Then a thought popped into his head. Steve! He suddenly remembered what his brother had said. Rather than mix it up and keep the batter on his toes, Steve said he could try to lull his opponent into a false sense of calm, before bowling something out of the blue.
‘Here goes,’ Davey said under his breath. You’re toast, Mikey!
He began to bowl off-spin, consistently, predictably, but with enough drift to discourage Mikey from hitting out. Mikey suddenly lost his swagger, and seemed to be concentrating hard and taking great care. By the end of the over, he still hadn’t scored.
Sunil called Tay in to bowl, with George taking over wicket-keeping duties. Tay carried on where Davey had left off and bowled a leg-spinner to Georgia, who struck out in panic, only to be caught by Sunil, now at mid-off.
Shimmer Bay’s run rate had suddenly dried up.
Now Mikey was at the batter’s crease and Davey was bowling again. Davey decided to carry on bowling one off-spin after another.
By the second ball of the over, Mikey suddenly appeared to relax. It seemed he figured he had it covered. Davey didn’t change his style, and on the next ball, Mikey drove the ball for two. He scored two more off the next ball. Now he really seemed to have found his feet.
Davey was about to bowl the fifth ball of the over. He strolled to his mark, turned. ‘This one’s for Bella,’ he said under his breath.
He ran in and made as if to bowl an off-spinner like all the others.
Mikey saw an opportunity and quickly stepped back, switched his hands and his feet. Now he was batting left-handed, and ready to hook the ball to deep square leg.
But at the last moment Davey bowled a leg-spinner, so that the ball, instead of spinning in towards Mikey, spun sharply away from his bat.
Mikey went on with the shot anyway, but only got an edge to the ball.
‘Out!’ Behind the stumps, George was holding the ball high in his gloves.
Davey leapt into the air. Sunil and the rest of the Sandhill Flats team let out a shout.
Yes! Davey made a fist. Now, all he had to do was get the rest of them out as quickly as possible.