Böcker av Bob Cattell

Twelve cricket-themed short stories, each set in a different country.

Eleven cricket-themed short stories, each set in a different country.

The Glory Gardens cricket team return for their ninth adventure, this time travelling to Australia to play in their own Ashes contest.

GLORY GARDENS C.C. are now in the North County Under Thirteen League, and the pressure is really on. Hooker, as captain, worries that the team won't be able to hold it together: arrogant Clive is always picking fights, Ohbert is still as useless as ever, and there are all the usual rows and injuries. But there's also Mack, the new player; the lucky mascot 'Gatting'; plus the whole team's unwavering determination to win against all the odds.

Hooker, Azzie, Erica and the rest all play cricket in their spare time, but they've never taken it very seriously until now. Kiddo, one of their school teachers, suggests they form an official team and play proper matches - and Glory Gardens C.C. is formed. Hooker, as captain, soon finds out that cricket teams weren't built in a day: some players squabble, some can't catch, and some have tantrums and go home at half-time! So will Glory Gardens go all out for victory . . . or will they be out for a duck?

GLORY GARDENS C.C. can't resist a challenge and this time they're going for gold in a World Cup competition! with teams from Barbados and South Africa visiting the area at the same time, it's a brilliant opportunity for the club to make its mark worldwide. It's not long before the thrills and spills of cricket spark off sporting drama, temper tantrums and practical jokes. So as Australia do battle with the West Indies and South Africa face India, can Glory Gardens rise above the squabbling and bring glory for England...?

It really doesn't look like being Hooker's season. Not only does he spend the first match of the league suffering a dropped-catch jinx but now there' civil war in the team over the selections. Sometimes captaining the GLORY GARDENS Cricket Team isn't the fun you might think. It's not the matches that prove the most trouble for poor Hooker - it's the infighting. He has one solution that might work. but making Ohbert captain in his place? That's not strategy - that's suicide.

No one takes much notice of Ohbert Bennett when he creates a Glory Gardens website, but Ohbert has a mission - to make Glory Gardens the most famous junior club in the world. He sends out a challenge to all junior sides to beat 'the reigning world champions'. The first the other players know about it is when the top young Australian club side, Woolagong C.C., arrive in England to take up the challenge. A five-game series - dubbed the Junior Ashes - is set up around the country and with the press and public following the action the pressure is certainly on. With the series tied two - two, the final game at Trent Bridge attracts huge crowds and the big question on everyone's lips is - will the Glory Gardens XI win Ohbert's Ashes?

When the Glory Gardens team discover that their ground has been sold to build a new hotel they decide to return to their roots and play the season's league games on Glory Gardens recreation ground. But the pitch is far from ideal and several players are hurt batting on such a terrible wicket. With the team losing matches, Hooker losing his form and the injuries mounting Clive, Matthew and Azzie are threatening to leave Glory Gardens to play for another team. Can Jo convince them to stay, and can the new captain, Erica, put together a side capable of beating their old enemy, Wyckham Wanderers, and maintaining their league title?

The team's on tour and anything that can go wrong. . . will! Bob Cattell's cricketing capers are enough to keep any fan happy for\hours - even OUT of season! A cricketing tour of the sunny Caribbean is the perfect combo for the Glory Gardens team. But with the cricket hard and fast, true West Indian-style, the red-hot heat AND certain members of the team treating it as a non-stop food fest. . . it looks like this time the team might have bitten off more than they can chew!

The under 15s League competitionis under way and Hooker and Co enter into the fray with typical Glory Gardens' gusto. First class cricket is the order of the day but when it comes to the crunch can oddball Ohbert pull it off in a moment of cricketing crisis? And have Glory Gardens CC REALLY got what it takes to be the best - not just throughout the regional trials - but at. . . HEADINGLY?