Wombats’ Wide Awakening

by Guy Dormer

While the season dawned bright and full of promise, Captain Ali was nowhere to be seen — reportedly busy erecting a trophy cabinet for future glories. An act of either supreme optimism or quiet mockery, depending on how your glass is looking. Into the breach stepped Masaki Kawashima, notes on his phone, vision in his mind: “Bat the 40. Post 150 to 200.” The team nodded. The gods chuckled.

Masaki won the toss and chose to bat first — determined to set the tone for the season with runs on the board. The skipper himself took the responsibility of opening the innings. He was joined by Kavin, who opted to anchor the innings before the ship had even left port, taking the shine off the new ball while grinding out 3 runs at a strike rate as majestic as Mt. Fuji’s domed peak… just not quite as high. Luckily, Masaki at the other end kept the score ticking over with a few classy strokes.

He found a solid partner in Ken, who brought a welcome burst of tempo and looked poised to take the game away… until he didn’t, feathering a catch behind just as the Wombats dared to dream. Aidan entered, reintroducing the anchor that Kavin had so nobly deployed earlier. After the run rate had slipped into a coma for much of the middle stages, Masaki made the executive decision to pull Aidan from the middle like a cold lasagna from a microwave, and the latter overs saw a modest flurry of activity. As wickets fell, Nigel cracked a quick 20 from 19 balls, and Evan treated the team to the only six of the innings. Guy added 22, and by the time the final wicket fell off the last ball, it was a gritty, stubborn, just-about-respectable 162.

The Wombats then took to the field brimming with the sort of fire you only get from an early-season game where everyone still believes this might be Our Year. Archit and Joe took the new ball and unleashed mayhem — swinging it at pace and bowling in tandem like Lillee and Thommo, searing lifters finding gloves and probing lines forcing panicked prods. Two chances hit the turf, but the tone was set: this was carnage, and the scoreboard showed it. 40 for 5 in the 11th over — cue whispers of a famous Wombats victory.

Then came… the rest.

From that point on, the team’s early intensity was matched only by the number of wides we generously sprayed in the vague direction of the stumps at the other end. With wickets in hand scarce, the Quashers resorted to Plan B: do nothing. And they didn’t need to. Their primary scoring partner was Extras, who was in truly career-best form. Kavin, to his credit, held his nerve, sending down 6 overs for just 17 runs, a beacon of control.

The 6th wicket partnership went for a sedate 107 runs, spanning 24.4 overs and featuring 39 extras. Joe Lewis was brought back and promptly broke the partnership with a searing delivery that dared to aim at the stumps. But it was too little, too late. The Alpha Quashers won by 4 wickets. Extras top-scored. Dreams of a Wombats victory remain carefully tucked away in Ali’s freshly built trophy cabinet.

An honourable mention for debutant Devon — the Wombats’ American army recruit. He was a rock in the infield, fielding with the precision and intensity of a man trained to secure perimeters under pressure. There were other positives: firepower with the new ball, tidy spells from the ever-reliable Kavin, and a few cameos with the bat. But the Wombats were ultimately undone by a self-inflicted onslaught of extras — a defeat not at the hands of the opponent, but by their own.

Onward, upward, and hopefully straighter.