Robinson feels bittersweet despite making century after getting a rather unexpected opportunity vs Australia.
Robinson’s ‘bittersweet’ century after unexpected opportunity.
Following his first T20I century against Australia, Tim Robinson acknowledged feeling conflicted about the fact that he had lost and that his chance to play had only arisen because to a teammate’s bad luck.
Prior to Rachin Ravindra’s exclusion due to a severe facial injury sustained during training, Robinson was scheduled to play in the first game of the series.
Robinson was confronted by a scoreboard that showed 6 for 3 in the second over shortly after he had walked at No. 3. When he scooped Ben Dwarshuis to fine leg off the penultimate ball of the innings, he was able to convert 10 off 14 balls into a century off 65 deliveries, converting it into a respectable total of 181.
“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.
“I wasn’t expecting to play,” he added. “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.”
A week after returning from his county stint with Northamptonshire, Tim had been helping out on the family farm in Rangitikei, lower North Island, where Robinson’s rushed call into the XI also meant some hurried chats with his dad, David. David drove four hours to Bay Oval to watch his son get a century on Wednesday morning after working on the farm.
“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.”