Jack Watson :The Match
An intense battle on the cricket field as Jack plays his best game in his life
Explaining the post
So basically, I’m going to write about the most inspiring journey of a cricketer. This is made purely from my imagination, by the way, so all of this is made up. But don’t worry, It’s still going to be exciting! (Also, you might learn a thing or two!)
Preface
Thoughts of doubt, fear, and excitement, rush through me. I’ve made it this far. Playing for Australia. Wearing the baggy green. Yet, there’s still one more goal. To win a match. I can feel it. I can sense it. It’s just one ball away.
All I have to do, is hit it, and experience the agony, of running one more time, down the pitch. Down the pitch for an entire realm of success.
But if I don’t run. I’ll experience a realm of chaos, and shame.
Cricket - The Match Of The Century
I was always a hard kid.
I would beg my parents to hurry up getting dressed, so I could rush out onto the field, and experience the hard leather, of the cricket ball. To me, there was no feeling like hitting a six, straight over extra cover.
These moments were rare, because I was in Boy’s Under 13’s cricket. Sixes, didn’t really happen. Unless the bowler was, really bad. Still, I had experienced it. I was one of a kind. They said that God must have blessed me himself. Because, wow, I sure could play cricket.
In my mind, I didn’t think that God had blessed me. For one, I didn’t even believe in God. Number two, I trained. Harder than most. That’s why I was good. Not because some sort of super being had, “blessed” me. It was because I worked hard.
Anyways, I always make sure to set my alarm clock, so I wouldn’t miss the first ball of the game. It was crucial, because I’d researched that professional players, made sure that they were always early for the game. I’d found many articles on Dad’s laptop, that said, “The early bird gets the worm.” I made sure that it applied to me as well.
I want to tell you a story. Of how I became a Test cricketer. How I overcame the odds. How I earned, the baggy green. The most famous hat in history.
As I woke up on Saturday, I immediately sprang out of bed, and made sure to check my bag, to see if all my gear was in there. Helmet. Check. Pads. Check. Gloves. Check. Protector. Check. Extremely important, Kookaburra bat. Check. Yep, I had my gear.
I called Dad. A very grumpy voice, welcomed me. He said he’d be down there in a minute. So I ate my breakfast, I kept on imagining the possible scenarios, that could happen in the game.
Could I smash a six? Take a “screamer” at third slip, to win the match? Get a hundred? These were the possibilities that I wrestled with at night in bed. I imagined playing alongside my lifelong hero, David “Boonie” Boon. The daydream about Boonie, couldn't happen, of course, seeing that Boonie had already retired. But, a boy could dream.
As Dad shuffled out, dressed hastily in white and maroon, the colours of my club, quickly made himself a bowl of cereal. I had, as well, made myself a bowl of cereal. From NutriGrain. I had found out that it was what the professional’s ate. Because of the pictures of athletes on the back.
As we drove in Dad’s Toyota, he gave me an imperative talk about cricket. One, which probably changed my career, I found out later.
He said, “Mate. All I want to see out there today, is you using your feet wisely, recognising when you should play a shot, and how to play it. Don’t be anxious to score a lot of runs early. If you want to be a Test cricketer when you grow up, then don’t try and hit sixes and fours every ball. That’s One Day International (ODI) stuff, and playing in ODI’s, doesn’t get you a baggy green.”
I nodded. What he was saying was important. It was all true, as well. I had to pay attention. Also, a baggy green, was my ultimate goal. “Yes, Dad.”
“Oh, and Jack?” He said to me grinning.
”I heard that there’s going to be a state selector out there.”
My jaw dropped. A state selector. That was like, the level below international level. Like, the level where the pick the Aussie players. And a selector, will be in stands?! Dude, I was even more determined to do well. But Dad’s words, still registered through me. I knew if I wanted to play state level, that I had to take my time, and not get out in a bad way.
“I’ll do justice, Dad.” I promised.
”That’s my boy.” He said.
I walked out of the Toyota, and made my way to our team. I spotted Doug, our best bowler, doing imaginary bowls in mid air. I noticed that Bob was watching him, and trying to replicate his movements. I also noticed that a frown crease, also set into Bob’s facial features, which made me laugh inside.
I set my kit down, and began doing my prematch preparation. Squats, push ups, and some other stuff. Then, the match began. Doug, our captain, won the toss, and elected to field first. Probably because he was eager to bowl the first ball. And get a wicket, which has happened before.
The blistering sun, welcomed me enthusiastically, after a long time, (I was getting bored,) the opposition, finally hit 30 overs, and they were 8/235. A nearly impossible score to catch, in Under 13’s cricket.
Our openers, Todd, and Bob, (The dods, as we nicknamed them) walked out onto the field to start our impossible innings. We were on a good start. Bob got 21, then attempted to hit a massive shot, nicked it, then went to keeper. After Todd got out, for 35, we were 2/56. Not great, but okay. I was 4 in our order, so I was next.
Sam, and Ben, were at the crease after the dods. Both of them, were pretty good batters, so our runs went up. Sam, scoring runs comfortably. After a while, Ben got out. He got 26, then miraculously got out, from an incredible spin ball. I even saw the shock and confusion on the bowlers face, so I was pretty sure he didn’t mean to do it.
We were now, 3/116, Sam hitting 34 runs, not out.
I walked onto the field, joining Sam at the batting crease. He said to me, “Good luck, mate. These bowlers are pretty deadly at the moment.” I nodded back, giving him a fist bump. I wasn’t trying to be rude by not saying anything, I was just preparing mentally for the journey I had ahead.
Also, I was on strike.
On my first ball, I defended, using Dad’s advice of, “If the bat is straight, the stumps will stay straight.” On the next ball, I used that advice again, but instead, also took a step forward, to show that I wasn’t afraid.
I remembered what Dad said about not being anxious to score a ton of runs early. I took my time. I was, however, aware that I didn’t have all the time in the world, because I wasn’t at Test level, yet. I didn’t have the luxury of days to bat. I had the knowledge that the most I could bat was a few hours.
So naturally, I hit a four on my next ball.
I couldn’t stop myself. I saw the ball, right at my chest level, off stump. Perfect for a cut. And that’s what I did. I even knew that I didn’t have to run. That was a four for sure. I was given a round of applause from the crowd.
So four starts my innings. I was 4 from 3 balls. Not bad, I thought. Starting with a 4, something Travis Head would do. My innings was going well. Sam didn’t really get a lot of runs, because all I really hit was fours, and defensive shots. After a while, Sam got out, and we were 4/148 runs. I was at 23 runs, not out. Maybe we could we do this.
Then Tom came in. Tom was an all rounder. He could bowl, and bat. Not a bad batsmen, but definitely gifted in the bowling area.
He shuffled to his crease, marking middle stump. Then he faced his ball, he hit it, and decided to run.
He shouted at me to hurry up. I quickly obeyed, because Tom could be scary when he was angry. Then I saw it. Tom had misjudged the length of his hit, and one of the fielders had already got to the ball. Then he threw it to the stumps, which Tom was running to, and smashed it with accuracy.
Tom was out for a golden duck. And boy, was he mad.
He threw his bat, and complained loudly that it couldn’t be right. But the umpire just shook his head, and pointed to where our team was sitting. Tom yelled in frustration, and trudged off to our team, knowing that arguing with the umpire wasn’t good.
We were now 5/148.
Then Doug came out to bat. And you guessed it. A duck. A golden duck. Again.
Doug had decided to play a reverse sweep. I guess he thought that it would impress the state selector. I don’t think the selector will pick him, because, 1, he just threw his wicket away, 2, he missed it, and 3, it was his first ball. He should’ve been wise on his first ball.
We were now 6/148. A minute ago, we were 4/148.
Next came out Patty. Patty, was one of those kids, who just had to be immaculate. Rumour has it, that Patty spends 1 hour in the morning, combing his hair.
Anyways, Patty was okay. He got out, with 6 runs next to his name, in the end bowled out on a magnificent yorker. I managed to get 2 runs in this time period.
So we were 7/156. Looking impossible? Yeah, I thought so.
Timmy came out and I got worried. Tim’s a bowler see, not a batter. I knew we were in trouble. I had to do something amazing to get us out of this mess now. I was on strike luckily, and I knew it would be bad if I got out now. So it hit it pretty well, and got us 2 runs more. 158 runs now. Still not looking good.
I managed to stay on strike. I needed to get us more runs. I didn’t think Timmy could do anything special. Then I saw the ball. As it came whistling to me, I saw that it was a poor attempt at a yorker. Doing what I do best, I whacked it ferociously, and I scored a six.
These moments don’t happen a lot to me, so I soaked it all up. I saw that 33 runs, were next to my name. Tim ran over to me, and said to me, “That was amazing mate!”
I was pretty happy. But we needed to win. 164 runs, that wasn’t enough. The ball came to me again, and I saw that there was no fielders behind the bowler. So I smashed it along the ground, past the bowler, for four. Gee, that felt good.
Then another four. The fielder could’ve caught it, but he lacked the speed and skill of running backwards, fell over, and missed it. I was on 41 runs. More than any of our batters had gotten today.
So far, I had stopped Tim from getting on strike. He understood. But then I hit one, ran down the pitch, and noticed we couldn’t run for two. I yelled, “DON’T RUN!” to Tim. And Tim was on strike.
He did well. Blocked it. He squared up, but hit it. But the rest of that over was wasted. And looked at the board, and saw that there was only 10 overs left. We had to get 235 runs, at the least, and we were at 172.
Possible. But highly impossible. Tim hit the ball for 1, and I managed to get on strike for the next ball. I hit it, and we ran for 2. The sun was hot. I desperately needed some water, but alas.
I hit the ball over the keeper for four. Tim congratulated me, but we had a harder task at the moment. I stayed for the next ball, and got another four. Dude, I was looking good. I’d hit my 50. I raised the bat, just for the crowds pleasure.
9 OVERS LEFT. And we were at 183 runs. Tim was also doing not bad. But, I think I jinxed him, because next ball, he nicked it to the keeper.
8/183.
Four, six, four, four, two, one. That was the next over. I scored every single run. We were at 204 runs. Then Cameron, got out. For a duck. I was thinking, “Oh c’mon.”
9/204. We can do this.
Aaron came out and I was scared. Aaron is not in our team for batting, and we had still a lot more runs to get.
But then I did something that was incredible, as Dad said. Ball after ball I went berserk smashing sixes and fours. Until finally, I won the match for us. I know, incredible right?
Everyone was screaming, “JACK WATSON, JACK WATSON!!”
It felt amazing. It felt like I was the hero of the Ashes, and, in a way I guess, I did win the Ashes for us.
But then a man in a NSW blues cap walked over to us. He had a beard and a smile. He said to me,
“You must be Jack Watson. My name is David Boon, and I'm the state selector for the Under 13s NSW Boys Cricket team.”
Thanks for viewing this. I hoped you like this post, and hearing about how Jack probably played his best game in his life.
Im sorry for leaving you with this cliffhanger, but, the story will continue.
Have a good day, or night, and enjoy whatever you’re doing!!
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