Best Australian Yarn: Belonging by Lisa Briggs

Ava tugs at her gloves, wriggling her fingers into position. A trickle of sweat runs down her back. She breathes in the dewy smell of cut grass. Selection day is here.

Shading her eyes with her hand, Ava looks out to the field where the match is underway. A chalky white pitch streaks the centre of a grassy oval. As she waits her turn to take to the field, she finds herself replaying yesterday’s skills testing in her mind. Running two kilometres barely caused her to sweat and hitting the stumps from the outfield was as routine as brushing her teeth in the morning. She caught the high balls like there was a magnet between the palm of her hands and the red orb of leather. When her sister asked, “how did you go?” She replied with a shrug, “alright.” Standing within earshot, her mother watched on as she answered and gave an imperceptible nod at the reply. Underplaying achievement was expected in their family. Boasting was tantamount to tempting disaster.

Next in line to bat, she looks along the row of players seated on plastic chairs. An anxious few are pacing. The girl to her right is leaning forward, balancing her chair on two legs. While they don’t play in the same club team she recognises her from weekend matches. Her red hair, pulled back in a low pony tail, swishes across the collar of her long sleeved cricket shirt as her head follows the action out on the field.