This is a sequel to 'Amy's makes a new Life' and 'After the game,' it doesn't matter if you skipped those, I'll cover what you need to know, but it would be best to check them out first.
This story is mainly about Sarah and what happens to her in the period after her international one-day cricket debut. It is told mainly from her perspective but occasionally, later on, her friend Olivia takes over the narrative.
The story includes sexual activity, but it is secondary to the events, so if that is not what you're after, look elsewhere.
The game of cricket features in this story, but you don't need to know anything about it, except that it's a team game, played with a bat and ball. There are three formats of the game; a 'test match' is played between countries and takes place over five days for men and four days for women, (I have no idea why). It is the purest form of the game. A one-day game takes place, as the name suggests, on one day and lasts for up to 50 overs for each team (that is 300 fair deliveries or balls). A T20 game takes just over three hours, each team receives 20 overs (120 deliveries) and it is fast and furious with games often taking place under floodlights. A new format of cricket, 'The Hundred' is being played in England for the first time in July/August 2021, but it's new and I've chosen to disregard it as we have no idea how it will work out.
I hope that my words will provide you with enough detail to enjoy the story. There are lots of explanations on the internet if you really are serious about understanding the game of cricket - but don't do it! The term 'batsman' refers to the person holding the bat, it is not, at least in my stories, intended to be gender-specific. I use the terms batsman, batswoman and batter interchangeably as I feel most appropriate, if this offends you, oops!
All characters are fictitious and over eighteen when involved in anything sexual and all activity is consensual. The Bandit's cricket team is fictional. The England Cricket team referred to in this story is entirely of my own creation. Any resemblance to real people is accidental.
New Year
There was a sound somewhere in the house that sounded like a fire alarm or a fog horn, it was something strident and very annoying. I sat up only to realise that it was just the alarm on my phone. It also seemed like sitting up wasn't a great idea, because I felt my head spin, so I flopped back onto the pillow. That caused my brain to wobble violently inside my skull. I closed my eyes; it was all my own fault. I should have cancelled my alarm, there was no need to get up at 7 am, as usual, especially not when you've only been in bed for four hours and have had too much to drink, far too much.
Last night I'd been out with some fellow university students, it was fun, so much fun that I forgot, or rather ignored my golden rule. Two drinks are enough, three if I was really determined to party and never more than that. For me, two beers alone are okay, more than two glasses of wine make me start talking, a lot! Some of what I say is funny, but I ramble all sorts of nonsense and my discretion filter goes to bed early leaving me exposed. I play cricket, I keep fit, very fit and I know that alcohol impairs my training regime. But it was New Year's Eve today, last night was an early celebration at a club in the city centre and, given the time of year, a couple of drinks shouldn't hurt. Except that I had about five, two beers, then two glasses of wine and a shot of something that I thought could be used to run my car. I wasn't one of those people who could drink all night, I was a lightweight and now I was paying for it.
It had been a mistake on many fronts. Tonight, I was celebrating with my friends Karen and Olivia and in four days I was flying out to Barbados, to play against the West Indies, on my first overseas tour with the England Women's Cricket team. I'd done a junior tour last year and I'd played my first one day and T20 games in the autumn. I was lucky to be picked for the full tour and this was not a great way to start.
I washed my face and pulled on running gear thinking that exercise was the way to recover. I drank a litre of water before I set off. Normally when I'm at home I have a three-mile loop that I do every day, if I'm feeling good, I add a bit extra. As I set off, I decided that my two-mile route was much a better idea. Then stupidity set in again when I reached the halfway point, I turned left instead of right and that added another two miles to the run. The last half mile, normally where I sprinted a bit harder, almost killed me. I struggled up the three flights of stairs, didn't use the lift and almost had to crawl into the kitchen for coffee.
I put the mug down on my bedside table and fell back onto the bed. I closed my eyes hoping that the Grim Reaper wasn't lurking underneath it waiting for me. I sipped the coffee, groaned again and was asleep seconds later.
*****
Almost five years ago I'd first played cricket at school, discovered that I loved it and had some skill. The coach had identified it and I was good enough to be spotted by scouts. I'd played and trained with the junior England set up and last summer had played for the University and local women's teams including the Bandits who play the shorter forms of the game. That had resulted in me being selected for the One Day International team and I'd made my debut at the ground a quarter of a mile from where I was now lying.
The first time I attended a cricket match was about the same time I started playing and at that same ground. That was where Mum and I met Amy for the first time. Amy was single, having lost her wife a few years earlier. Mum was divorced, Dad had walked out on us when I was only seven. Mum and Amy became friends. Mum had no idea that she was gay before then and the two of them fell in love. We moved in with Amy a year later. They were a good match and loved each other very much. Living with Amy had been wonderful, I loved her as well, in my own way.
When I woke up, I felt a lot better but I didn't smell very fresh, so had a long shower and that was followed by a huge pile of toast and more coffee. When Mum and Amy arrived home, I spent a little while with them before getting dressed, a pair of tailored trousers, a blouse and sweater, with pair of low heels. I packed a holdall with nightclothes and a change of clothes for the next day. I'm tall, 5 feet 10 inches, skinny with long blonde hair and I know that I'm not bad looking.
Mum and Amy had been invited to a party somewhere and I was staying over with Karen and Olivia, but first I had to drop in to see my grandparents. I collected two bottles of bubbly, boxes of chocolates and set off.
Gran and Grandad had been incredibly supportive of Mum and me, they were wonderful people. They approved of Amy and she, in turn, enjoyed being with them. Her parents had died when she was in her early teens and now, she enjoyed having parents again as an adult. I suspect that Grandad liked her all the more because she kept bringing him bottles of whisky, I just brought chocolates. I smiled when I thought about him, he'd had a dream as a young man that maybe his son would one day play football for England, then he'd had two daughters, who he loved to death, so much that his dream didn't matter to him. I remember the pride and pleasure he had when I told him that I'd been picked to play cricket for England, that was when he told me the story of his dream and he'd added, "Football, cricket it doesn't matter, you've made my dream come true." I'd got immense pleasure from seeing him after my debut game and giving him the stump that I'd grabbed as a souvenir and which he kept safely, brandishing it occasionally when he wanted to brag in the pub. I spent two hours with them and promised to keep them up to date with what happened on my tour.
It was almost 9 o'clock when I arrived at Karen and Olivia's home. Well, where they lived, it was Karen's parents' home, but they were working in the middle east and Olivia was living with her. Karen had made a huge bowl of pasta and the three of us tucked in. I ate by far the largest portion and told them about the previous evening and the consequences of alcohol. "The good thing is, I won't be troubling your stock this evening, soda water and lime for me and I brought my own. I also brought a couple of bottles of bubbly for midnight and I may have a single glass."
Olivia smiled at me, "You've never had much tolerance for booze, that's why we like being with you, you're a cheap date." We all laughed.
We chatted for another half hour before the other guests arrived. There were four of my former schoolmates, three girls and a boy, none of whom I'd seen for almost eighteen months. I was a bit surprised to learn that Katrina and Joe were a couple, they'd barely looked at each other in school.
