Rafa, Roger, Novak and cricket: All in a day's play

The Beast

Novak was assessing his team, and was very happy with what he had. Jo was the brute of the group, a sturdy, stocky, beast of a boy. It was hard to believe he was only twelve. When he picked fights (and he picked a lot of them) he could take down 15-year-olds without batting an eyelid. Always a good guy to have on your side if there was an appeal for a run out.

In stark contrast to him was Gilles, a thin, lanky daredevil, who always had a fresh wound on his person. He loved to dive for a catch, dive for that near impossible third run, dive to run someone out. And they loved him for that. Juan Martin’s height made him a feared bowler, and the fact that he was really good didn’t do the opposition any favours.

‘If only he’d come to play more often’ was the general complaint of the gang. But what with his tendency to fall and get hurt, and his extra-curricular activities in school, he just couldn’t make it to the ground every day. Tommy H, or Haasy as they affectionately called him, was one of the older boys. He was a nice, quiet fellow who was always ready to come out and play. It was his last year in school though; this time next year he’d be slogging it out in college.

Nicolas and John were the last two picks for Novak, after all the ‘good’ ones had been taken. These two were not that bad, but they were never going to make it to the team that would play against the boys from the Other Colony. Still, hat didn’t stop them from pestering their parents to buy wickets, and any boy whose parents gave in to their child’s tantrums would always find a place in the team – only not The Team, the one that would play against the Other Boys From The Other Colony.

Novak himself was a quick and tenacious little squirrel, and could always be depended upon when it came to the big moments- six off the last ball kind of stuff. He’d chosen to bowl first, because he loved to hit the winning run- not too different from a certain Mahi who was busy playing football in a different part of the country.

Near the peepal tree sat Rafa and Tommy R, who were waiting to go down and bat. Captain Andy had cleverly chosen a right-left combination to open the innings for his team (it was the kind of thing he saw captains do on TV), and felt like quite the leader. They were all waiting for Roger to come, and a sudden uproar from the other team signalled Roger’s arrival. And as they saw him trotting down to the pitch there was a look of amazement and envy on every face, and often they both look the same.