- July 27, 2025
At some point in our childhoods, we all had some dreams. For many of us, those dreams don’t go anywhere and are lost somewhere in the recesses of the schoolyard and childhood. For Tim David, it took him 41 international T20s, a batting position that, barring a few times, he was only ever going to bat no higher than no. 6, and one insane chase in St Kitts to turn it into a reality. Oh, and it nearly slipped through his fingers — not from the bowling, but from his mind.
In Australia’s third T20I against the West Indies, David arrived at the crease earlier than usual, directly after the Powerplay, with the scoreboard wobbling and with a big chase of 215. What followed was not only a masterclass in power-hitting, but the ability to deal with mental noise when you’re on the verge of achieving something you’ve waited for your whole life.
Battling Distraction When You’re on the Brink
Tim David is no stranger to big moments in franchise leagues—IPL, CPL, BBL, you name it. But international cricket? That Aussie jersey? It hits different.
As he barreled on toward a maiden T20I hundred – something he has never accomplished in his over 280 career T20s – he began to feel the weight of the moment. As he confessed after the game: “It was a little bit of foreign territory for me … I didn’t’ t play for records, but to score a hundred for Australia? That’s a childhood dream.”
That’s when distraction creeps in. You start counting runs in your head. You think of the headlines, the records, the “what ifs.” David, who had bulldozed his way to 90 with 11 sixes, suddenly found his rhythm wobbling. Enter Mitch Owen, the 20-something teammate acting like the seasoned therapist at the other end. “He’s got a couple of hundreds already,” David said, laughing, “and he just helped me stay focused.”
A Gift from Dre Russ and a Caribbean Stage Set for Magic
Funny how fate works. The bat David used to smash 102* off 37? It wasn’t even his usual stick. It was a bat gifted by Andre Russell, his Trinbago Knight Riders teammate from last year’s CPL.
There’s poetry in that—scoring your first-ever international ton, in the Caribbean, with a bat from one of the Caribbean’s biggest hitters. Add to that the fact that David had happy memories at Warner Park from his time with St Lucia Kings, and you get the sense that everything aligned for this knock.
But more than that, David made it count because he stopped obsessing over the result. Even when he got a life at 90—a sitter dropped by Brandon King on the boundary—he didn’t spiral. He reset.
Not Just Records—Redemption, Maturity, and Meaning
Cricket is a funny game. Tim David had built his career as the guy who comes in late and finishes things with a bang. But this was different. This was him crafting an innings from near the beginning, building it under pressure, and finishing it not just with brute force, but with brains.
And yes, he is now the proud owner of the fastest T20I hundred for Australia — 37 balls, in place of Josh Inglis’s 43-ball benchmark. But it was not just the number that made this special. It was the context: a match that was nearly lost, a career waiting for that hundred, and a mindset that had to block out all the noise and be as present as possible in the moment.
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