On our way to our nets session, Charlie, Nicki, and I detour via the indoor nets as a short cut so we don't have to walk all the way around the building. We can hear the distinctive sound of ball on bat even before we open the door. We walk around the corner and see a couple of the Brisbane girls milling around with their kit bags, and a couple of other girls are in the nets. I stop and watch the batsman in the net with the bowling machine. I'm itching to get in there and have a go because the machine is much more high-tech than the one we have back home.
Charlie said you can program it for speed and swing, which would be fantastic to have a go against. I watch as the batsman hits a couple of straight drives. She looks like she's practicing her shape judging by the way her movements are so deliberate and the fact that she's holding on her follow-through. Then, without warning, she hooks a ball that crashes into the side netting near where I'm standing and when she sees me watching, she smiles. I realise it's Jules. I can feel myself blush, but I smile back and hurry to catch up to Charlie and Nicki.
My first session goes much better than I expected. I miss out on facing the pace bowlers, Paris, Shari and Regan, which I'm only slightly disappointed with because against the spinners, I'm seeing the ball like a watermelon. Against pace, my shots would be flying off the bat.
I crack a slow straight ball back over Nicki's head and she stands there and watches it go over. Her shoulders slump. I guess she realises she's got to go and get it.
Charlie's in the net beside me, practising her 'keeping. "Hey," she says. "Stop being so good. You're making the rest of us look bad."
"Sorry," I reply.
Charlie laughs. "I'm just kidding. Show off all you want." She sets herself and takes a slightly wide ball and brings it back over the stumps and then tosses it back to the bowler.
"I'm not showing off," I say, a little hurt that she'd think that.
She looks at me and smiles. "Well, if that's natural, then I'm impressed."
"Really?"
Charlie shrugs and points her glove at me. "But you are only batting against non-spinning spinners. When we've got some down time, we'll see how good you are against me." She takes another ball and this time knocks off the bails.
I face up and instead of a big hit, this time I hit a cover drive. "You're a 'keeper," I say. "I thought 'keepers couldn't bowl?"
Charlie laughs. "That's the point. I'm an unknown quantity." She wiggles her eyebrows and I laugh.
"What do you bowl?"
"Deceptively slow lollies," Charlie says and faces up for her next ball.
I laugh and turn back to face my next ball.
"Don't laugh," Charlie says. "It's amazing how often they can get you out."
"We'll see," I reply, and smack a ball straight back over Piper's head. She sighs and trudges off to get the ball.
At the end of practice once we've done our warm down, we're all packing away our gear and Karen runs through the plan for the next day and debriefs us on today. She singles a few people out for their fielding skills, and Charlie looks chuffed to be told her enthusiasm and excitement for training was brilliant today. I nudge her with my shoulder and she grins. And then Karen says, "Alice Henderson."
I'm surprised to hear my name. "Yes?"
"Fantastic work in the nets today. That was some powerful hitting. Brad and I are both looking forward to seeing what else you have in that arsenal of yours."
"Thanks."
Charlie shoves me with her shoulder. "See? I told you to stop showing off."
I spot Paris out of the corner of my eye. She's staring daggers at me. I wonder whether she's unhappy that Charlie and I got singled out today, or whether it's because she didn't.
"Okay ladies, training's over for today. You're now on free time. If anyone wants extra training or advice on technique, Brad and I are available to help you out. Tomorrow's our first gym session, so wear joggers and bring a towel. And then you'll get a chance to have a session with the Brisbane girls. Have a good night."
Charlie stands up and offers me her hand. I take it and she hauls me up. We grab our kit bags and head back to the dorms. "That was amazing," Charlie says. "Wasn't that amazing?"
"Yeah, it was," I agree. Although I'm not so sure Paris and her posse would agree judging by the way they storm off.