Last ditched effort

• James Lloyd, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2005

As the final Ashes test approached, Don knew he had to improve his physique (after falling for a duck and 13 in the 4th test)! So sure enough, he went into intense training. He promised himself, his teammates and his country that he would never lose the Ashes to England, not even if it meant his own life.

For the next 10 intense days, Bradman trained like he’d never trained before, lifting weights and going for runs. But never did he not stop and say hello to all his fans. One day in the gym, an orphan walked up to the Don and said, “Excuse me, but are you Donald Bradman”. Being the gentleman that he is he replied, “Yes I am” and placed his Baggy Green on the poor child’s head. If you were there at that moment you would feel warm for this child. You could see his face light up with joy as our greatest cricketer ever gave away a prized possession to show that this child was wanted.

*

“Welcome one and all to the 5th and final Ashes test live at The Oval. I’m Ritchie Bernard here with my broadcast partner Michael Slater and we are here live!” yelled the announcer. This was the first of the 5 days of truth. Don was down on the pitch waiting for the toss. “Alright then, home team chooses, what do you want, Heads or Tails?” asked the Umpire. “Heads please.” Answered the English Captain. Don had never felt so much suspense. He head butterflies in his stomach as he hoped for a shiny platypus instead of the Queen. As it waved and whispered in the air all he could think about is a ball hitting a pitch, hitting his legs which are conveniently lined up with his stumps. As it came down and hit the ground Don was relieved ever so slightly. “And it is a tail, what would you like to do Don?”

*

“And here come the 2 Aussie batsmen now.” Said Ritchie. After electing to bowl, Donald and his troops were able to dismantle the English batsmen for a bleak total of 159. As Bradman came out of the dressing room and onto the field his nerves went as crazy as a man trying to eat a banana in a straightjacket. The English fast bowler that made a mess of him last time stared blankly down the pitch as Don tapped the pitch with his bat. The fired up bowler ran as fast as cheaters trying to eat an unsuspecting prey. Just like that, he let the ball go. Everyone watched in fear of Bradman’s Curse getting the better of him once more.

“There goes the ball, out of the ground for a super 6.” Yelled Michael Slater into his microphone. The Don had smacked the ball away for good. If you were there on that day, you would see Donald deliberately hitting the ball in that direction to make 1 little orphan happy.