100 Not Out

by bobdat

Chapter Two: Practice

“You play for how long?!?”
Streak didn't react well to discovering that cricket matches took four days.
“Five days for test matches, which are internationals.” Demon added with a smirk.
Streak just looked gob smacked.
“Hey, we only play a few of those games each season.” Bus said, trying to reassure her new team-mate. “There are also lots of limited-over games, which only take a day.”
“Four days?!?”

Streak was still getting over her shock as Demon explained how the season worked, taking occasional sips from the hot drink in front of her.
“We play five long games, four days each. That's played in a league-style competition, we play all the other teams once. This year we've got three home games and two away.” She said, pointing at the calendar at the back of her diary. “Then we've got two one-day games scheduled. They are both in tournaments, so if we lose them both we won't have any more.”
“Do you often get through the first round?” Streak asked, feeling a little mischievous. She had guessed the answer.
“No, we've never got through.” Demon said, a little irritated by the question. “So we're going to try hard this year.”

“So there's only seven games in total?” Streak asked, studying the schedule. “That doesn't sound too hard.”
Demon nodded. “But we've got weekly training on Saturdays, and a team meeting on Tuesday nights. Games are played from Friday to Monday, so when it's during school time you have to get exempted from classes.”
“Really? That's totally awesome.”
“There's a lot of catch-up work to do, though.” Bus added, shrugging. “So it's not all fun.”
“Anypony want another drink?” Butter asked, looking at the bottom of her empty mug.

Once Butter had departed, Demon went on.
“Do you think you're better at bowling or batting?” She asked Streak.
The blonde pony shrugged. “I don't know, bit of both maybe.”
“You could try being an all-rounder. They have to bowl and bat.”
“Sounds perfect, that way I'm good at everything.”
Demon was unimpressed. “Try it before you start bragging. It's not that similar to any other sports.”
“Whatever.”

Butter returned with three mugs, handing one to Googly and one to Bus.
“Streak wants to have a go at being an all-rounder.” Bus said to fill her in.
“Oh, cool! We need a good all-rounder in the middle order.”
“What's the middle order?” Streak asked, before taking a few big gulps of her drink.
Demon sighed. “The order in which players come out to bat is called the batting order. Only two batsponies can be on the field at once, so you get a number from one to eleven. Bus is always number one.”
Bus smiled. “Because I don't bowl, I can focus on batting, which means I'm fairly good at it. You always put your best batsmen high up the order.”
The tall pony nodded. “Bowlers like Googly and I are generally weaker batsponies, so we bat last. The middle order is for players who can bat, but also do something else. Usually all-rounders or wicket-keepers like Butter.”
Butter just waved.

“The job of the middle order in long games is to score as many runs as possible and adapt to the situation. That could mean getting runs quickly, or playing very defensively to avoid getting out.” Demon said, nodding.
“What are runs?” Streak only realised it was an obvious question when Demon smacked her hoof into her face in frustration.
Bus was more sympathetic. “The aim of the game is to score more runs than the opposition. You score runs by hitting the ball then running from one end of the wicket – that's where the three stumps are – to the other.”
“If you hit it to the edge of the pitch, you get four runs automatically. If it doesn't bounce, you get six.” Butter said.

Streak nodded. “So the bowlers have to stop this from happening?”
“Yes” Demon said, nodding as if it were obvious. “You have to get the batsponies out, then they can't bat any more. After you get ten batsponies out, they can't bat any more and you can swap over.”
“How do you get them out? Three strikes?”
“No, it's different.” Bus said. “But it's easier to explain when we're practising.”

“Speaking of practice, you are free this Saturday?” Demon asked.
“Should be.”
“Okay, well come along to the playing field after school. Coach Nets will be there, and he'll be interested in meeting you.”
“Oh, and you can try bowling and batting.” Bus said enthusiastically, tapping Streak on the shoulder. “I'm sure you'll be great.”
Streak just shrugged. “I'll try my best.” Modesty wasn't really her thing, so she quickly drained the rest of her drink to avoid the awkward silence.

***

“Okay fillies, it's time to get ready for the new season.” Coach Nets said, striding up and down past the bench where the five of them were seated, his short brown mane sticking up wildly as usual.
“Demon will be our team captain again. Butter, wicket-keeper. We need another six players though.” He paused when he was opposite Streak. “Pleased to meet you pet. I heard you need a little introduction to the rules, but we can sort that out, no problem.” He smiled and continued walking.

“Today, we're going to do a little light game practice to get back into the swing of things. Our goal for next week will be to find new players.” He said, jogging a little on the spot to avoid the cold. “It'll be tennis balls until the ground gets softer, though.”
The team got up and collected equipment, leaving Streak just sat on her own, unsure of what to do.
Coach Nets sat beside her. “Do you think you can join in, or do you need more explanation?”

Streak considered this. Saying she needed help was weak, but she had no idea what was going on.
“I don't know...”
“Try fielding. All you have to do is stop the ball if it comes your way, and I can explain then.”
This seemed a reasonable compromise, so Streak agreed and took up her place on Bus' left. She was batting, and Demon was bowling, so Googly was batting at the other end. Butter was waiting behind the wickets with her gloves on.
“Why are they wearing helmets?” Streak asked, noticing the grilled helmets which reminded her of the ones that the football team wore.
“To get used to it. The real ball can do some damage, so they wear helmets for protection.”

Personally, Streak thought that the excessive padding was a little silly. Baseball players didn't wear anything like that much.
But her mind was changed when Demon unleashed a delivery. It shot down the wicket and crashed harmlessly into Bus' leg pads. She didn't even bother hitting it.
“Wow.” Streak said, admiring the bravery. “How fast was that ball?”
“Oh, not great. Sixty miles per hour? It's difficult to throw a tennis ball very fast. Demon can touch ninety m.p.h. with the real thing.”
Now that was impressive, Streak thought. Demon had gathered the ball and was walking back to her end, ready for another delivery.

“Demon is a fast bowler, which means she bowls very quickly to try and give the batspony the shortest possible time to react. The ball bounces off the seam or swings in the air.” The Coach explained. “Googly, who you'll see in a minute, does it differently.”
The next ball was equally fast, but Bus simply knocked it towards Coach Nets before setting off for a run. She and Googly swapped over as the coach picked the ball up and returned it to Demon.
“That's worth one run.” He explained when he got back. “Now Googly has to bat.”

Streak nodded. There was a lot of stuff to learn.
Demon bowled again, and Googly just blocked it with her bat.
“Each bowler bowls six balls in a row, then they swap ends. Demon's already had three, so she's got three more.” Nets explained as the next ball was just blocked again.
Ball four had more of an impact. It seemed a little faster, and Googly wasn't fast enough with her block. The little wooden things that sat on top of the wickets went flying, and Butter cheered.

“Demon just bowled Googly. That's where you hit the wickets with the ball and knock the bails off. The bails are those little wooden things.”
Streak smiled. “So that's good?”
“Yes, when you're the side bowling. Demon is our best bowler and Googly is out worst batspony, so it's unsurprising.” Nets chuckled a little, then shouted over to the other ponies. “Okay, Demon and Googly swap. Bus, you take the strike.”
Bus went back to the other end, whilst Googly took off her pads and picked up the ball. Demon did the opposite, picking up a bat.

“Taking the strike means you're the one facing the bowler.” Nets added. “Now watch how Googly bowls.”
The shy pony had a much shorter run-up, and she threw the ball much more slowly. The ball arced through the air, then landed a little in front of Bus. Bus just left it, and it bounced through to Butter.
“Why didn't she hit it? That was so slow, surely it was easy runs?” Streak said.
“Come with me.” Coach Nets said, a little mysteriously.

He led Streak over to the wickets from which Googly was bowling.
“Go again, Googly.”
The pony stepped up again and bowled a similar delivery. This time, Streak could see what happened when it bounced. Instead of carrying on straight, it veered sharply to the left. Bus left it again.
“Wow, you can make the ball bounce like that?” Streak said, astounded.
“It's called spin bowling. You spin the ball, and when it hits the ground it bounces off in one direction. Instead of giving the batspony too little time to hit it, you make the batspony guess where it's going. If they guess wrong, they could be bowled.”
Googly smiled a little.

“We call each group of six balls an over. At the end of the over, the bowler swaps with another bowler, who bowls from the other end.” Coach Nets informed Streak as they headed back to their original position. “It can seem a little confusing, but you always have to swap end, and always have to swap bowler. Just remember that.”
“So does it just go on like that?”
“Yes. You keep bowling overs until the intervals, which are for lunch and tea. In limited-over games, you can only bowl forty or fifty overs before you have to swap over with the batting side.”

Streak hoped she understood. “So what do I do when I'm not batting or bowling?”
“You field, like we are now. You have to stop the ball and throw it back to the wicket-keeper or bowler, to stop them from scoring runs. Usually there's eleven people on the team, so it's better covered than this.”
“Field?”
“Yes. You're a fielder, doing some fielding. In the field, I suppose.” The coach chuckled.

They did a few more practice overs before the coach called them all in.
“Okay, that was promising. Butter, Demon and Googly, I want you three fillies going to make posters to try and get more players for our team. We need another six, so we can't waste time.” The three of them headed for the changing rooms.
“Bus and Streak, you two are going to the nets. Bus, I want you to introduce Streak to bowling and batting, and show her the techniques. I need to know what position she's going to play.”
“Okay coach.” Bus said. “Come on Streak.”

They began walking towards the outdoor nets which had suddenly appeared.
“What about coach? Isn't he helping?” Streak asked when she noticed him wandering off.
“Oh, he'll be going to work something out. He's always doing something.” Bus explained, unzipping a kit bag. “Do you want to bat or bowl first?”
Streak shrugged.
“You can bowl.” Streak was handed a tennis ball and Bus guided her over to the wicket.

“There's one golden rule. The arm holding the ball has to be dead straight.”
“So it's not like a throw?”
“Throwing is against the rules.” Bus smiled. “It's a little difficult to get the hang of, but keep trying. Then, stand sideways on so your other arm is facing the batter.” As she explained, Bus gently nudged Streak into the right position. “Then, use your free arm to aim a little, and try to bowl the ball at the wickets.”

Streak tried, and the ball flew high and wide.
“That was great for a first try!” Bus squealed.
“It was terrible.” Streak said, lacking any enthusiasm.
“No, no it wasn't!”
“You don't have to be nice.”
“I'm not! Well... I am, but well, I don't know. Anyway, you did well because your arm was straight. That's the hardest bit to master!”

To Streak, it seemed that hitting those tiny little sticks from twenty yards away was the hard part.
“Try again.”
Her second try was equally terrible, but it bounced at least.
“Oh, no no. You bent your arm.”
Streak sighed and tried again, with no success.
“I'll tell you what. Just keep trying and I'll do and collect the balls. Practice makes perfect.” Bus beamed with her usual happiness and trotted away to fetch the tennis balls at the back of the net.

In the end, Streak ended up taking a ball home so she could practice in her back yard. Bus promised they'd work on batting after school on Tuesday, but Streak wasn't convinced she would be any better.