It’s barely been 15 months since his international debut for New Zealand, but Tim Robinson has put behind the first impression of Shaheen Shah Afridi bowling him for a two-ball duck.
Midweek, he took on South Africa pacers in the T20 tri-series in Zimbabwe and helped deliver a win after resurrecting a crumbling innings with his 57-ball 75 as NZ scored 173/5 and shot out SA for 152.
The right-handed 23-year-old who’s turned out for Northamptonshire, Wellington Firebirds, Guyana Amazon Warriors, might have struggled against Pakistan but has slowly picked up his average to 29.77 in 11 innings, striking at 131.
What makes Robinson, an all-rounder, unique is his past as a javelin thrower. According to collegesportmedia.co.New Zealand’s Robinson, in addition to cricket, was a leading javelin thrower, winning the intermediate title at the 2017 Secondary Schools Championship. He finished fifth in his senior grade, behind his brother Cam, who went on to study business agriculture at Massey University.
His bowling might have needed managing with age-old back problems that torment throwers, but his batting found a career top score in Zimbabwe against the Proteas.
What makes Robinson, an all-rounder, unique is his past as a javelin thrower. According to collegesportmedia.co.nz, Robinson, in addition to cricket, was a leading javelin thrower, winning the intermediate title at the Secondary Schools Championship in 2017. He finished fifth in senior grade behind his brother Cam, who proceeded to study business agriculture at Massey University.
His bowling might have needed managing with age-old back problems that torment throwers, but his batting found a career top score in Zimbabwe against the Proteas.
Robinson had thrown a 700 gm javelin to 54.43 for Wellington Amateur Athletic Club at 15, and 45.82 in 2021 for an 800gm javelin, before shifting to cricket. He replaced Finn Allen in the domestic franchise of Smash, as a rook-like batter, but the turning point was touring Pakistan in a Kiwi squad without IPL players, after he came to attention because of 139 off 64 balls with 10 sixes against Otago Volts.
According to Cricinfo, Robinson, alongside Dean Foxcroft and Mitch Hay, spent two weeks at the Super Kings academy in Chennai with old friend and Wellington coach Sriram Krishnamurthy to get used to red and black soil pitches last July. Learning to pick the right deliveries to sweep was high on their agenda, as per Cricinfo.
