He was a javelin thrower in school.
New Zealand batter Tim Robinson has notched up a magnificent century against Australia in the first T20I in Mount Maunganui. He scored an unbeaten 106 in just 66 deliveries, including six boundaries and five maximums, at a strike rate of 160.61. He revived New Zealand from a precarious situation of 6/3 and took them to 181/6 by the end.
While a natural athlete, cricket was not Robinson’s priority, for he was a javelin thrower in school. In 2017, he won the intermediate title at the Secondary Schools Championship. Interestingly, the 23-year-old finished fifth in senior grade and was behind his brother, Cam.
He continued doing well as a javelin thrower: 700 gm to 54.43 for the Wellington Amateur Athletic Club and 800 gm to 45.82 in 2021. However, he soon turned his interest into cricket, which came naturally to him. Robinson replaced Finn Allen at Wellington after he moved to his home city, Auckland.
Soon, he established himself in New Zealand’s domestic circuit and enjoyed a fruitful Super Smash 2023/24. The batter scored 298 runs at an average of 59.60 and a strike rate of 187.42 in six outings, including a century. He made his T20I debut for New Zealand on the Pakistan tour last year, when most first-choice players were busy with the IPL.
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Only a couple of days after New Zealand’s early exit from the T20 World Cup 2024, Tim Robinson, with Mitch Hay and Dean Foxcroft, arrived in Chennai for an extensive training at the Super Kings Academy. Several Kiwi players have trained here due to the connection with Chennai Super Kings (CSK). In the training, the focus was on the spin game, particularly employing sweep shots.
“I think for the sweep, I like to get outside the line of the ball and try not to get in front of the stumps. I also think it’s quite important to commit to the shot quite late so you can adjust to the length of the ball and then your own stride,” Robinson told ESPNcricinfo.
The work done at the training has been visible in the way he has handled slow bowlers lately. Since 2024, Robinson has had a strike rate of 137.44 and a balls-per-boundary ratio of 6.44 against spinners. During the first T20I against Australia, he used his feet precisely, making room or coming down the track against spinners during his century knock.
New Zealand are going through a transition across formats, and the impact has been visible in the shortest format. Most of their players opted for casual contracts and are available only partially, forcing the management to try newer options. To Robinson’s credit, he has taken his chances and capitalised on the opportunity immediately.
He has 384 runs at an average of 38.40 and a strike rate of 137.63 in 13 T20I innings, including two fifties and a century. Additionally, he has 48 runs at a strike rate of 102.12 in three ODIs. One thing that stands out is his ability to score quickly and remain flexible with his batting position, for he can bat anywhere in the top four.
There’s still a lot of improvement required, but with age on his side and more exposure, Robinson will surely scale higher as a batter. It’s not easy to make such a drastic rise after spending a lot of time as a javelin thrower. That should be enough to suggest he has the talent and should become a permanent in New Zealand’s XI soon.
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