Who is New Zealand explosive hitter Tim Robinson with a javelin past?

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.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 a 800gm javelin, before shifting to cricket. He replaced Finn Allen in the domestic franchise of Smash, as a rookalike 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 right deliveries to sweep was high on their agenda as per cricinfo.

As New Zealand rebuilding their T20 side, Robinson will be key to their fortunes in the upcoming World Cup.

In 2017 in his erstwhile avatar, with a javelin, Tim and Cam won junior and senior titles at Secondary School Championships,after which Cam had famously quipped to collegesportmedia,co.nz that, “We’ve always been good at throwing things except tantrums.”

Composed under fire – Tim Robinson, take a bow 🫡

With wickets tumbling around him, Robinson stood tall for NZ, crafting a classy 75* off 57, and steered them to 173 in a high-stakes tri-series clash.#SAvNZ #T20ITriSeries pic.twitter.com/Ig44hNxzTM

— FanCode (@FanCode) July 16, 2025

Tim’s best throw of 54.99 had been 4th out of 6, though their spearing journey hadn’t started too long before 2017. Winning at McEvedy shield athletics meet, an inter school, had piqued their interest in javelin. “I gave up cricket because I thought I was fast, when I was not,” Cam had told collegesportmedia.co.nz. At Wellington, they had been trained by coach Debbie Strange, coach of Olympian Stuart Farquhar.

They spent their holidays shearing sheep at the family farm at Hunterville.

Against Proteas, Robinson had a partnership of 103 in 63 balls with SA-born Bevon Jacobs (44 off 30) after all of Devon Conway, Daryll Mitchell, Mitchell Hay and Jimmy Neesham went for single digits as Proteas’ Kwena Maphaka and Lungi Ngidi and Gerald Coetzee struck blows.

Robinson later told New Zealand Cricket & CSA, “We were obviously struggling when we lost those early wickets and it’s something we discussed me & Bevon…during the innings and that’s obviously… But I think the way we sort of thought about it was that longer we spent at crease easier runs would come and we couldn’t afford to lose more wickets so we tried to take it as deep as we could and we had to run hard on long side but obviously we got lucky along the way. That’s cricket.”

On Jacobs, who moved to NZ at 3, Robinson said, “You look at him and he’s quite the big guy and will hit the ball long and he sure did. It’s fantastic batting with him.
What struck me was when he came out and seemed to enjoy it and looked comfortable out there and played a good knock. I think he’s going to play a lot of cricket so it’s a good sign.”

Maphaka claiming wickets signalled arrival of new express pacer, and Robinson said, “I think the Proteas balling is exceptional and their use of long side was exceptional. They bowled well with the new ball. It was hard when we continued to lose wickets. As we went deep we kept more wickets in the bank so we could capitalise in the end. As a batter that’s one thing you do… Know where your feet are and play the ball that comes to you. For me, it’s not about milestones, they are not on my radar but contributing to a win for your country is a great feeling and one I hope to replicate. Obviously it’s nice you got to a 50 or something but it’s about contributing to the win is rewarding.”

He typified the NZ approach to adaptability. “T20 cricket – When you lose wickets it’s hard to keep momentum and it’s about small moments. While getting the win gives us confidence which we hope to carry on to Friday. We pride ourselves in adapting as quickly as we can. But different game, different wickets, different bowlers,” he said.

Robinson was enjoying playing in Zimbabwe. “Zimbabwe’s a great country to play in. Weather is fantastic, people are nice and accommodating. And I love steaks. Steaks are my favourite. They make it a little different,” he said.

SA batting coach Ashwell Prince ceded the Robinson -Jacobs partnership had been costly. “The target was gettable. It was a good pitch. We lost a few wickets early on and were up against it. But we got to get something going but kept losing wickets all the way through and fell short. We bowled well. Used the bouncers that got us some wickets. But their partnership towards the end gave them a competitive score,’ he said.

On their own batting he added, “It’s nature of T20 cricket. This is how we can go. They have a good side. We have a fairly young side. But we didn’t get any batting rhythm going early on. And that’s the key when chasing a score to get some rhythm and a partnership early on. We know we have power to catch up, and balance between runs required and how many we need to get.”

The two teams rebuilding after some high profile retirements in T20 are trying out new names. Lhuandre Pretorius who scored a century in Tests was stuttering a bit in T20s, but Prince laughed off suggestions he was struggling. “Lhuandre? Struggling? I don’t think so. You gotta bear in mind he’s 19. Not everytime he’s going to walk out and smash 50, 100s. Against Zimbabwe he played a pull shot. Today against New Zealand he was playing well. Maybe he got a little cute with his shot and lost his wicket. He’s a talented player but he’s 19. He’ll make errors that young players do. Against New Zealand today’s lineup was also a bit experimental in terms of left right combination that you try to maximise the short boundary. Next time you play what’s in front of you. But we are also beatable. We take it one game at a time.”

When told none of Saffers had got to 50, he explained, “It’s not about getting to a 50. If it was that then he would’ve taken 6 more. It’s not about that. It’s about going out there and playing on the front foot – that is sticking to your style. If you are aggressive that’s how you play. And what we encourage. It’s not about getting to a 50. Brevis has played around the world, exposed to different leagues, teams and pressures. But at end of the day they have come to international cricket and its biggest stage at 18, 19. But we trust their abilities .”