by David Warner
Then there was Mikey. It was bad enough having a doppelganger, let alone a doppelganger with the same signature batting style as you. Then again, that was probably where the similarities ended. Even though Davey usually loved a joke, he didn’t think it was so funny that Mikey kept hitting people’s ice creams out of their hands.
He also remembered how, when he’d been walking up the beach with Max in his arms, Mikey had appeared from behind a big clump of bushes. Now Davey thought about it, Mikey had had a strange look on his face . . . Why? What had he been doing?
And there was one more thing that bothered him. Sure, Bella was a pain sometimes, but she was really upset when the trophies went missing. Bella cared about that stuff and, while Davey didn’t really get it, he figured she was allowed to. Everyone was different, after all . . .
Davey looked up at the poster of his hero, Ricky Ponting, that was stuck on his bedroom wall. It was faded and dog-eared and someone (Sunil) had blacked out one of Ricky’s teeth. But he was still the great captain, and Davey often consulted him when things became tricky.
Are you thinking what I’m thinking? he said silently to Ricky.
In the half-light he thought he saw Ricky wink. I think I am, Warner, I think I am.
CHAPTER 9
TREASURE PLEASURE
The sun was just above the horizon and Davey was already on his way to the beach. He was on foot today, lugging the big old umbrella and dressed in Granddad’s faded floppy cricket hat and one of Steve’s old shirts with sleeves and a collar.
He probably looked like a mini-Mudge, but he didn’t care. He was on a mission. He didn’t even have time to tell Sunil – he’d have to catch up with his best friend down at the beach later.
As he approached the entry to the beach car park, he spotted a figure approaching from his left. Mikey! he thought instantly, but when he looked again, he could see it was nothing like his doppelganger. The figure was at least a head taller and quite a bit bulkier.
Davey looked harder. The person was carrying something. A beach umbrella like his own.
Then it came to him. He’d recognise that galumphing gait anywhere. Mo Clouter. And if Davey wasn’t mistaken, the great pumpkinhead was carrying a metal detector.
Mo met him in the car park. ‘Shorty!’ he shouted. ‘Nice outfit. Is that your granddad’s?’ He laughed.
Davey ignored the question. ‘Clouter! Off in search of treasure, are you?’ By now, Davey was certain the whole treasure story was a myth. That map was definitely a fake.
‘You bet! And I’m gonna find it, too! You guys are gonna be sorry!’ Mo was punching the air.
Davey was about to tell Mo what he thought of the whole treasure thing when he suddenly had a brainwave. ‘I know something you don’t know,’ he said instead.
Mo stopped in his tracks. ‘What? Do you know where it is?’
‘Maybe . . .’ He grinned knowingly.
‘Where? Where? Tell me and you can have half the treasure – nah, a quarter, maybe.’ Mo waved the metal detector in the air. ‘After all, I’ve got this!’
‘Oka-a-a-ay.’ Davey was thinking on his feet. ‘Follow me.’
He strode off in the direction of the sandhills, dragging his old umbrella behind him. Mo dashed after him, puffing loudly.
‘I’ll tell you when to crank up the metal detector,’ Davey said when they reached the sandhills. ‘Now, stick with me.’ He began to search for the clump of bushes he’d seen Mikey near the day before. But now he realised the sandhills were full of clumps of bushes. He’d never noticed that before.
After ten minutes, Mo was starting to grumble. ‘We’re walking round in circles! I thought you knew where it was!’
‘I do. Just need to find the spot.’ Davey stopped to think. Probably his only chance would be to go down to the beach and retrace his steps from that direction.
‘Okay, let’s try this . . .’ He headed east in the direction of the beach. At the top of a big sandhill, he surveyed the scene. The sun had risen higher and sand and sea glistened like gold and silver. A handful of people were already there, splashing in the shallows. A sprinkling of surfers bobbed beyond the breakers, where sea and sky seemed to merge into one. It was going to be the kind of perfect day when anything was possible, Davey decided. Anything . . .
He ran down the side of the hill onto the beach.
‘Stop! Shorty! Where are you going?’ Mo yelled, running after him.
Finally Davey came to a halt. This was about where the lifeguard’s tent was pitched the day before. He turned and began to walk back towards the sandhills. And this was the track he’d taken when he’d headed for home after being banned from the beach.
Mo shadowed him, complaining all the while. ‘This is stupid!’ Davey heard him hiss, as they made their way up the beach again.
At the foot of the sandhills, Davey spotted a clump of bushes just ahead. ‘Okay, Clouter, crank up the metal detector!’ he said.
Mo fumbled with the thing and found the switch. He turned it on. Nothing happened.
‘Okay, start detecting,’ Davey said.
Mo began to sweep the head of the metal detector above the sand as if he was vacuuming. Davey had to stifle a giggle. Mo Clouter vacuuming!
‘This way,’ Davey said, leading Mo in the direction of the clump of bushes.
Mo kept sweeping, Davey now at his side. Suddenly Davey heard something. It was a beep. He looked down at the screen on Mo’s detector. A row of green lights flashed. And the closer they came to the bushes, the more lights lit up.
‘We’ve found something!’ Mo shouted. ‘Shorty! We’ve done it!’
They made their way around the clump of bushes. On the other side, the beeping was continuous and all the green lights flashed.
Davey stopped in his tracks. ‘It’s here,’ he said, pointing into the bushes.
Mo tossed the detector onto the sand. They both dropped to their knees and started pulling away leaves and twigs.
Then Davey spotted it. A black handle. He reached in, grabbed it and tugged. The bag came out, its weight enough to throw him backwards. Now Davey was under the bag.
Mo jumped on top in a rush to get the bag open.
‘Get off, Clouter!’ Davey used all his strength to push upwards and Mo fell into the sand.
Davey wriggled free. Now back on his knees, he found the bag’s zipper and tugged it open.
‘Treasure!’ Mo yelled, so loudly a nearby seagull flew off in fright.
‘Trophies,’ Davey said. He held one up for Mo to see.
‘Trophies?’ Mo looked downcast, but then his eyes lit up. ‘Can we sell ’em, do you think?’
Davey shook his head. ‘Nope. They’re Bella’s. Or at least, some of them are.’
He looked down at the trophy in his hand. Engraved on the little plaque was the name ‘Bella Ferosi’.
He pulled another trophy out of the bag. It was also for Bella. So was the next.
Davey found six trophies for Bella before he came to a trophy with no name on it. Obviously Bella had pre-won a whole bunch of awards already.
‘Trust Bella,’ he said. ‘But she is the best at just about everything.’
‘Yeah, except finding treasure.’ Mo picked up his metal detector and waved it in the air again. ‘I’m the best treasure-hunter round here,’ he said proudly.
‘That’s for sure,’ Davey said, slapping Mo on the back. ‘Best treasure-hunter there is.’
CHAPTER 10
SHIMMER DILEMMA
‘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,’ Su
nil 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.
Mikey was gone. For four.
Yes! Davey made a fist. Now, all he had to do was get the rest of them out as quickly as possible.
CHAPTER 11
GAME, TEST, MATCH
Mikey’s quick dismissal was the beginning of a bad run for Shimmer Bay. Lydia, usually a strong and consistent batter, was out minutes later after an ill-judged drive found its way straight into Davey’s hands. With five down for 31, it was the visitors who now appeared to be on the skids.
This time, the Shimmer Bay tail barely wiggled, let alone wagged, and the whole team was out just after morning tea for a measly 37.
It was a great result for the Sandhill Flats cricketers, but could they catch up, let alone overtake their opponents? They had only 36 runs on the board and needed to make 89 – the biggest innings total of the match – to win. It was a big ask, that’s for sure.
Sunil gathered his players around to discuss tactics. We’ve got plenty of time up our sleeve, so there’s no rush,’ he said. ‘Let’s take our time and stay focused.’
Everyone nodded.
‘Sunil?’ It was Tay.
‘Yes?’
‘We’ve got to show you something. It’s a photo. We just found it on Ivy’s phone.’
‘Everyone’s got to see it,’ Ivy chimed in.
‘Show me once we’ve won this Test match,’ Sunil said in
his captain’s voice. ‘We’ll have plenty of time to look at photos then.’
Was Sunil starting to sound like a school teacher? Davey put the thought out of his mind.
‘Well, don’t let us forget to show you,’ Ivy said as she tucked her phone into her shorts pocket.
‘Okay, but for now, let’s get on with it!’ Sunil was fired up.
So the players got on with it. Tay and Ivy erected Davey’s big old umbrella so there was a bit of shade available for those waiting to bat, while Josh got to work setting his field.
Davey pulled his favourite bat – Kaboom – out of his backpack and planted a kiss on it. ‘Let’s go for it,’ he said.
George laughed. ‘We can do it, Warner, I know we can.’
The two boys were about to stride onto the field when someone called out.
‘Davey!’ It was Bella. She was clutching a bunch of trophies against her chest and waving one in the air with her free hand.
Davey waved back.
‘Thanks again!’ she called. ‘And good luck!’
Davey and George had started well. Josh and Caspar alternated the bowling first up, but neither seemed able to rattle the Sandhill Flats openers, who took their time while they found their rhythm, looking for the gaps all the while and not falling into the traps the bowlers set them.
Soon Davey and George had settled in, and over the course of the next few overs they scored a quick-fire 39 between them, with some astonishing boundaries that had the Shimmer Bay fielders running and diving.
Following one particularly high-scoring over, Josh Jarrett called to Mikey. The newcomer was next up to bowl.
‘Bring it on,’ Davey muttered under his breath.
Davey wasn’t surprised to discover that Mikey was a spin bowler, and not a bad one, either. Mikey liked to mix it up, which took a while to get used to, but soon Davey felt he had his measure.
An over from Lydia saw George really fire up, with three twos and two fours, but the sixth ball bounced a little bit more and George mistimed his stroke and was caught in slips.
Still, he’d scored a healthy 28. With Davey on 34, Sandhill Flats were one for 62 and still needed another 26 runs to win.
