Tim Robinson should have been watching from the dug-out in Mount Maunganui on Thursday night. Instead, after Rachin Ravindra’s freak collision with a boundary board at training, the 24-year-old walked in at No. 3 with New Zealand 6 for 3 and Australia already sniffing a quick kill.
He responded with a calm, often inventive 106 not out from 65 balls, lifting the hosts to 181 for 6. It was a fine effort, punctuated by a late scoop for four off Ben Dwarshuis that ticked the score into three figures. Even so, Australia’s hitters made light work of the chase, getting home with 21 balls spare.
Afterwards Robinson could not quite decide how to feel.
“Bittersweet is a perfect way to describe it,” Robinson said. “It’s definitely a bit of a double-edged sword. I’m obviously personally pretty happy with how I went but probably trumped by the fact that we lost that game.”
The innings only happened because Ravindra, “one of my close mates”, suffered a nasty facial cut during fielding drills on the eve of the series opener.
“I wasn’t expecting to play,” Robinson admitted. “Firstly, I’m really disappointed and upset for [Rachin], and he’s one of my close mates. It’s horrible to see him injure himself and miss out on playing for a team that he loves.”
“But in saying that, it’s given me an opportunity. So that’s, again, a weird feeling, because I wouldn’t be playing tonight if that didn’t happen. I’m always grateful for any opportunity I can to put on a black jersey, that’s for sure. But I’m really disappointed and gutted that my mate’s gone home. So it’s a bit of a funny one.”
The call-up forced a frantic ring-round back on the family sheep farm in Rangitīkei. Robinson’s father, David, had drafted his son into docking duties a few days earlier, only for cricket to intervene.
“We had all hands on deck last weekend for docking [sheep],” Robinson said. “We smashed through them. I got off the plane from England… and was straight into it on Saturday and Sunday. It was good. I was on the horse, so I didn’t even have to walk, so I was happy.”
David jumped in the ute for the four-hour drive to Bay Oval and watched his boy pass 50 and then 100 in a blur of sweeps and lofted drives. For Tim, the century nudged his T20I average to 38.40 from 13 matches, with a strike-rate of 137 – solid numbers for someone still finding his place.
Yet the wider context matters. New Zealand already have Kane Williamson, Finn Allen and, when fit, Ravindra vying for top-order spots heading towards next year’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. Selection, Robinson accepts, is a moving target.
“Absolutely [this is a] trial window,” he said. “And that’s why I want to make the most of everything that comes my way. I love it. Competition for spots is fantastic. It breeds hunger and it’s sort of uplifting for everybody.”
New Zealand’s coaching group will take similar positives: grit under pressure with the bat, but also a reminder that defending sub-par totals against power-heavy opposition leaves little margin. Robinson, meanwhile, has ticked an early career box – even if it was on a night when not much else went to plan.
