Tim David has never been part of the conventional cricket system and yet he is playing for Australia. And it is a training program from a different sport that has helped his rise.
Tim David has been tipped to become the game’s greatest master blaster after bringing golf training techniques into cricket.
Born in Singapore, Australia’s newest superstar is an international man of mystery who after being snubbed by the conventional system, has reinvented the wheel by deliberately dedicating himself to perfecting a niche role in Twenty20 cricket no one else in the country had been able to do.
It can be revealed David’s cyclonic batting style started when he downloaded a golf training program at home, and his unique confidence to continue doing it his way has led one of Australia’s greatest ever white ball cricketers, Shane Watson, to declare the ‘Singapore Slugger’ a generational phenomenon.
“In the most recent IPL when he played for the Mumbai Indians, he played two games against the Delhi Capitals who I was coaching and some of the shots he hit from ball one, I haven’t seen too many people ever do that,” Watson told News Corp.
“He’s as good as I’ve ever seen.
“There’s only a couple of people in the world of T20 cricket who have been able to come in and dominate at the back end of an innings – Andre Russell is one in particular – but Tim David is more technically correct than Russell.
“His conventional cricket shots go miles and that’s the reason why against all types of bowling I believe he’s going to be consistent, which is the hardest thing to do when you’re a power hitter.
“What he has done is something very special. We are very lucky to have him here in Australia.”
David’s unique journey in breaking the mold peaked earlier this year when he actually turned down a debut selection for Australia – unheard of in past generations.
But the 26-year-old has had the self-belief and the courage to navigate his own path and isn’t bothered by the fact many Australians will still tune in for Saturday night’s sold out opener against New Zealand asking, ‘Tim who? ‘
“I hadn’t thought about that much to be honest,” David told News Corp.
“I’m not that bothered about what the perception is, I’m just happy to do my role in the team. I’ve been made to feel really welcome by everyone in the squad so I couldn’t really ask for much more.
“I’m very excited. We feel really well prepared … we’re ready to go.”
David’s low profile isn’t entirely accidental. He turns down a lot of interviews and stays away from social media.
Averaging almost 40 at a strike rate of 160, David doesn’t fail often considering the high risk career he leads, but when he does, he reminds himself that if you want to see the rainbow, you’ve got to see some rain.
“He’s accepted there will be days that don’t work. But the days that do work are quite spectacular and it’s a genuinely match winning role,” said David’s personal cricket coach, Jim Allenby.
“It’s such a fickle sport anyway but his role is extremely fickle. And him having the emotional intelligence to understand it… and sometimes our messages after a game when he’s got one of three balls and skied one is an emoji of a rainbow and rain. He gets over stuff real quick.”
Australian legend Ricky Ponting has likened David’s arrival in the T20 side to when the late and great Andrew Symonds burst onto the scene at the 2003 ODI World Cup, and has declared David can deliver his country back-to-back title glory.
Allenby – cousin of golfing great Robert Allenby – has opened up about caddying for an unassuming and largely anonymous figure to mainstream Australian fans, who has somehow changed the game with his ability to cannon sixes from ball one.
“When he came out of the Australian system (having never played a Sheffield Shield game) it was a pretty natural thing to do to focus his game on T20 skills,” said Allenby.
“It became really obvious the role he was going to target because no one was doing it really, really well, consistently in Australian cricket. He was quite clever.
“It frustrates me at times when people think hitting is just about clearing your front leg and swinging as hard as you can because there is so much more to it than that.
“I like it to bowling at 150km/h. You need to have a lot of natural attributes, but you also have to have a very sound technique to be able to repeat that.”
9000KM IN 13 DAYS: AUSTRALIA’S HORROR WORLD CUP SCHEDULE
– Callum Dick
Despite hosting the T20 World Cup, Australia has been handed the worst travel schedule of all 12 teams competing in the group stages, with the reigning champions set to compile almost 9000km through the air over the next fortnight.
Aaron Finch told reporters last week some players within the Australian camp were battling fatigue on the eve of their World Cup title defense and the team would enjoy “a couple of off-days” before the opener against New Zealand this Saturday to “allow guys to get away and recharge”.
And an analysis of the group stage fixtures suggests Australia is right to be cautious in its pre-tournament managing of players, with the hosts due to fly 8997km to play their five pool games over a 13-day span.
That figure is in stark contrast to some of its key title challengers, most notably Saturday’s opponents New Zealand, who will travel just 3784km over the same period.
In fact, Australia will travel more than 1000km further than any other team featuring in its pool.
The Group A qualification winner – one of Namibia, Sri Lanka, UAE or the Netherlands – will travel 7807km, while Afghanistan and England total 5706km and 4836km respectively.
The major factor is of course the cross-country trips to play in Perth – something New Zealand will avoid doing entirely, with the knockout stages based on the east coast.
The Kiwis also play four of their five group games in the east, while England gets an extra day’s rest over its five-game schedule compared to the rest of its pool.
England, Afghanistan and the Group B runner-up will all play back-to-back games in Melbourne, limiting their travel requirements.
In the other pool, Bangladesh doubles up in Adelaide while Pakistan will play consecutive games in Perth.
Australia’s grueling group stage schedule comes off the back of a jam packed pre-tournament lead-in which included a three-match series in India, before warm-up games against the West Indies and India in Queensland, book-ending a three-game series against England in Perth and Canberra.
A number of key players including Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitch Starc did not fly to Perth to face England, with Australia rotating its playing squad heavily during the pre-tournament schedule.
Finch cautioned against pessimism after Australia’s winless run of form against England and India, claiming the team’s only interest was to reach its peak playing potential during the World Cup.
Some have questioned Australia’s mix-and-match team selection during the pre-tournament process however given the grueling travel schedule to come, particularly when compared to some of its key title rivals, it could turn out to be the correct call.
TEAM TRAVEL SCHEDULES
AUSTRALIA (Group 1)
Sat Oct 22 v New Zealand (Sydney, SCG)
Tue Oct 25 v Group A winner (Perth, Perth Stadium )
Fri Oct 28 v England (Melbourne, MCG)
Mon Oct 31 v Group B Runner-Up (Brisbane, Gabba)
Fri Nov 4 v Afghanistan (Adelaide, Adelaide Oval)
TOTAL: 8997km in 13 days
GROUP B WINNER(Group 2)
Mon Oct 24 v South Africa (Hobart, Bellerive Oval)
Thu Oct 27 v Pakistan (Perth, Perth Stadium)
Sun Oct 30 v Bangladesh (Brisbane, Gabba)
Wed Nov 2 v Group A Runner-up (Adelaide, Adelaide Oval)
Sat Nov 6 v India (Melbourne, MCG)
TOTAL: 8898km in 13 days
SOUTH AFRICA (Group 2)
Mon Oct 24 v Group B Winner (Hobart, Bellerive Oval)
Thu Oct 27 v Bangladesh (Sydney, SCG)
Sun Oct 30 v India (Perth, Perth Stadium)
Thu Nov 3 v Pakistan (Sydney, SCG)
Sun Nov 6 v Group A Runner-up (Adelaide, Adelaide Oval)
TOTAL: 8772km in 13 days
GROUP A WINNER (Group 1)
Sun Oct 23 v Group B Runner-up (Hobart, Bellerive Oval)
Tues Oct 25 v Australia (Perth, Perth Stadium)
Sat Oct 29 v New Zealand (Sydney, SCG)
Tues Nov 1 v Afghanistan (Brisbane, Gabba)
Sat Nov 5 v England (Sydney, SCG)
TOTAL: 7807km in 13 days
PAKISTAN (Group 2)
Sun Oct 23 v India (Melbourne, MCG)
Thu Oct 27 v Group B Winner (Perth, Perth Stadium)
Sun Oct 30 v Group A Runner-up (Perth, Perth Stadium)
Thu Nov 3 v Pakistan (Sydney, SCG)
Sun Nov 6 v Bangladesh (Adelaide, Adelaide Oval)
TOTAL: 7157km in 14 days
INDIA (Group 2)
Sun Oct 23 v Pakistan (Melbourne, MCG)
Thu Oct 27 v Group A Runner-up (Sydney, SCG)
Sun Oct 30 v South Africa (Perth, Perth Stadium)
Wed Nov 2 v Bangladesh (Adelaide, Adelaide Oval)
Sun Nov 6 v Group B Winner (Melbourne, MCG)
TOTAL: 6752km in 14 days
GROUP A RUNNER-UP (Group 2)
Mon Oct 24 v Bangladesh (Hobart, Bellerive Oval)
Thu Oct 27 v India (Sydney, SCG)
Sun Oct 30 v Pakistan (Perth, Perth Stadium)
Wed Nov 2 v Group B Winner (Adelaide, Adelaide Oval)
Sun Nov 6 v South Africa (Adelaide, Adelaide Oval)
TOTAL: 6441km in 13 days
AFGHANISTAN(Group 1)
Sat Oct 22 v England (Perth, Perth Stadium)
Wed Oct 26 v New Zealand (Melbourne, MCG)
Fri Oct 28 v Group B Runner-up (Melbourne, MCG)
Tue Nov 1 v Group A Winner (Brisbane, Gabba)
Fri Nov 4 v Australia (Adelaide, Adelaide Oval)
TOTAL: 5706km in 13 days
ENGLAND (Group 1)
Sat Oct 22 v Afghanistan (Perth, Perth Stadium)
Wed Oct 26 v Group B Runner-up (Melbourne, MCG)
Fri Oct 28 v Australia (Melbourne, MCG)
Tue Nov 1 v New Zealand (Brisbane, Gabba)
Sat Nov 5 v Group A Winner (Sydney, SCG)
TOTAL: 4836km in 14 days
NEW ZEALAND (Group 1)
Sat Oct 22 v Australia (Sydney, SCG)
Wed Oct 26 v Afghanistan (Melbourne, MCG)
Sat Oct 29 v Group A Winner (Sydney, SCG)
Tue Nov 1 v England (Brisbane, Gabba)
Fri Nov 4 v Group B Runner-up (Adelaide, Adelaide Oval)
TOTAL: 3784km in 13 days
GROUP B RUNNER-UP (Group 1)
Sun Oct 23 v Group A Winner (Hobart, Bellerive Oval)
Wed Oct 26 v England (Melbourne, MCG)
Fri Oct 28 v Afghanistan (Melbourne, MCG)
Mon Oct 31 v Australia (Brisbane, Gabba)
Fri Nov 4 v New Zealand (Adelaide, Adelaide Oval)
TOTAL: 3617km in 12 days
BANGLADESH (Group 2)
Mon Oct 24 v Group A Runner-up (Hobart, Bellerive Oval)
Thu Oct 27 v South Africa (Sydney, SCG)
Sun Oct 30 v Group B Winner (Brisbane, Gabba)
Wed Nov 2 v India (Adelaide, Adelaide Oval)
Sun Nov 6 v Pakistan (Adelaide, Adelaide Oval)
TOTAL: 3409km in 13 days
Originally published as T20 World Cup: Tim David predicted to shake up cricket with unrivaled batting style
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