Gazza

• Thomas Johnson, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2013

One night a lonely cricket ball was sitting on a long white dusty table. His name was Gazza. Gazza was a bright fresh white colour and he was three days old. He used to be a small piece of cork that was round and smooth before they covered him with string and leather. His mother was a cork tree and his father was a rubber tree. Gazza’s parents were ecstatic that Gazza was the first cork to be made a ball from their family. Gazza was forced by the Queen to be used in the final game of twenty-twenty for the season. He was flown to the cricket ground by the Queen’s one-of-a-kind jet and jumped out with a parachute. He landed smoothly and safely.
Gazza was scared but he wasn’t alone. There were two other cricket balls on the table: Blinky and Bill. Bill was the newest ball and Blinky was the oldest. Blinky was two months old, and he had watched all of the last twenty-twenty match between Australia and India. But he hadn’t been used. Blinky saw what it felt like to be belted across the field and told Gazza and Bill how his friends had been destroyed. No ball ever wants to be used because it hurts to be hit so hard.
The first ball to be used was Bill. He got belted around and had bruises all over his body. He had been playing for fifteen overs, then his seam ripped. Gazza wished he could be like Blinky last match and not have to play. Then Blinky was chosen to be the next ball. He hated the Aussies and went for Pakistan. Blinky knew it wasn’t going to be fun. Pakistan scored three hundred and sixty two runs. Australia needed three hundred and sixty three runs to win. Blinky felt like he was going to faint. Gazza was so nervous that he almost puked. Blinky lasted seventeen overs before he retired. At first, the bowler licked Gazza and rubbed him firmly on his leg. At first he hated being hit by the bat, but after flying through the air he loved it. He knew he only had to last eight overs.
By the time the next over was gone, Australia had already made two hundred runs. Another over went and they only needed one run in one ball to win! After seven overs Gazza was feeling very exhausted, he knew he was going to die next bowl. The batsman belted him for six. He flew out of the park, the cricket ground looked like a big oval shape with lots of lights and faces looking up at him. When he started to come down everyone started cheering and going crazy. When Gazza landed, the shock knocked him out and he fell into a gutter that leads to the sewer. No one ever saw Gazza again. Everyone thinks he was eaten by a ferocious croc.