An shy cricketer has found his voice at a new club.
Peter joined the Belconnen Bulls during pre-season training in August and established himself as a decent middle-order batsman and also someone who was polite and didn’t say a lot. He carried that reputation when he started playing for the fourths, letting his ‘bat do the talking’ and staying fairly quiet in the field.
But that all changed when he took the wicketkeeping gloves…
“Our main ‘keeper couldn’t play the other week, so we needed another gloveman,” said the fourths captain Terry. “While Peter normally doesn’t say boo to a goose, he said – very quietly – that he used to ‘keep in indoor so would be happy to take the gloves. I figured we’d give him a shot and I can take over if it doesn’t work out.”
Terry needn’t have worried, as the new responsibility brought out Peter’s extroverted side.
“I got an early catch – albeit a regulation one – and that confidence brought something out in me,” said Peter, who finished with three catches, a stumping, and only conceded a couple of byes.
“I tell you what mate, suddenly Peter wouldn’t shut up! He was talking to the batters inbetween balls, geeing up our fielders, and generally talking s***. It was hillarious,” said Terry.
Thought, in a candid moment with Everyday News Staff Writers, Peter revealed why he was so quiet at first.
“My last club – who I refuse to name – was toxic AF! Most of the players were related in some way and that closeness meant there was a lot of tension! We had a Facebook chat group and there’d be at least one big fight a week! Usually over stupid stuff. The worst one was after we’d had a good win and everyone was happy. Then one dickhead got pissed off that he didn’t play and said he’d rather play a higher grade so he would win a premiership,” said Peter.
“And then then was the on-field crap. There were at least two or three fistfights between teammates. At times I thought, ‘are we going to have a team next weekend?’ I got so sick of it and quit during the Christmas break, left the chat group, unliked the club’s Facebook page, and burnt all my gear. I was playing indoor by January because I wanted to keep playing some form of cricket.”
While the indoor stint helped Peter enjoy playing cricket again (especially wicketkeeping), he soon got itchy feet for outdoor.
“Indoor was fun, but I’ve been playing outdoor for 20 years, so I had to go back. Luckily the Bulls are good blokes, but I wanted to keep my head down and stay quiet, just incase things turned sour.”
In good news for Peter, it looks like he’ll be the full-time wicketkeeper.
“Our old ‘keeper is going to a higher grade, so Peter’s welcome to be our gloveman for as long as he wants,” said Terry. “For the entertainment value alone.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” said Peter, with a huge smile on his face. ” I love wicketkeeping and it keeps you in the game. I’ve already started working with our bowlers at training so I can get used the their styles. It’s going to be an awesome season.”
Everyday News is a brand new general news/parody section of The Gurgler, and definitely not a lame rip-off of The Betoota Advocate. We swear.
