'We've got something here': The dramatic rise of Tim David

Adam Griffith was standing next to Matthew Wade in the middle of Blundstone Arena in late 2020 watching his prized new recruit face up to Hobart's formidable pace attack.

The then Hurricanes coach and his skipper watched on as Tim David, a relatively unknown talent at that point, smacked his bowlers a couple of times over cover, then over midwicket and then played a "beautiful" straight drive down the ground during an intrasquad match before the BBL|10 season.

David, recruited from Western Australia where he had only made the cut as a local replacement player for Perth Scorchers, then stood up and banged a back-foot drive over cover for a one-bounce four.

"That was the moment I reckon everyone went 'Ooh, we've got something here'," Griffith tells cricket.com.au.

"I was standing with Wadey. He looked at me, and you could tell by the look that he saw what I saw, and could see that talent.

"And very quickly the rest of the playing group understood why we had him down there."

***

Griffith had first come across David in his role as WA bowling coach from 2011-2016, as the young right-hander was rising through the ranks in club cricket.

Word had started to get around the Premier Cricket scene in Perth about a tall, young allrounder (then bowling mediums, not off-breaks) with incredible power in the Claremont-Nedlands first grade team.

Born in Singapore to Aussie parents but raised in Perth's western suburbs from the age of two, David amassed three centuries and four fifties in one season, forcing his way into the WA Second XI in February 2017 where he belted 137 on debut with 16 fours and two sixes.

"He was starting to get a bit of a reputation around the grade scene in Perth about his power and how good a player he could be," says Griffith.

"You'd watch him bat and you wouldn't think technically he was amazing by any stretch, but he was good enough technically and just his power, he could hit the ball really hard back then as well.

"He'd come in for academy sessions and work around the Scorchers group a little bit … the thing that struck me was the power."

But WA and the Scorchers were strong squads and opportunities for David were limited.

He was handed a state rookie contract by Western Australia in 2018-19 and made 12 appearances for the Scorchers as a replacement player in BBL|07 and BBL|09 (for 109 runs with a top score of 18) but was cut by WA ahead of the following season without playing a game.

It was the moment when David's focus "evolved naturally" away from the 'traditional' version of the game and he started honing his skills for the shorter formats.

"I saw that there was quite a specific set of skills needed to do the job in white-ball cricket and I thought that was something I could do," he explained in July.

"Until I started doing it in games it was a bit of a hedged guess, but I felt that's what my skills led me to and then it was just working really hard and trying to improve myself all the time."

***

As is the case with many T20 specialists in the modern era, David ventured overseas to ply his trade, but rather than domestic leagues, he found his break in the country of his birth.

Being born in Singapore meant he could represent the Associate nation with without jeopardising his chances of playing for Australia, and as an Australian citizen, David has always remained eligible to represent this country without any qualification period.

Across 14 T20 internationals for Singapore between July 2019 and March 2020, which included qualifiers for last year's T20 World Cup in the UAE, David faced 352 balls and smashed 76 of them to or over the rope.

Such hitting didn't go unnoticed in Australia.

Griffith, who had become head coach of Tasmania and Hobart Hurricanes after a stint as Australia's men's bowling coach from April 2016 to April 2017, knew the talent David possessed and enticed his former WA pupil south for the 2020-21 summer.

Announced in a press release by the Hurricanes alongside left-arm seamer Nick Winter less than a month out from the start of BBL|10, Griffith described David as a player who had "showed some signs with the Scorchers of his power and ability".

"Hopefully with some opportunities to finish off our batting innings, he will show his full range of skill," Griffith said at the time.

While he says now that what followed didn't surprise him, perhaps not even Griffith could have predicted how quickly it would come.

In his first four games with the Hurricanes, David smashed 58 off 33, 21no off 13, 24 off 15 and 21no off 12 – 124 runs finishing the innings at a phenomenal strike rate of 169.86.

He finished that BBL|10 season with 279 runs striking at 153.29 and was promptly snapped up by Lahore Qalandars for the 2021 Pakistan Super League.

Stints with the Surrey and Southern Brave in England's T20 Blast, 50-over cup and Hundred competitions followed, along with St Lucia Kings in the Caribbean Premier League and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the second half of the postponed 2021 Indian Premier League season.

By the time he returned to the Hurricanes the following season, David was one of the most feared 'finishers' in the world, not just Australia, a grand suggestion the Mumbai Indians validated when they splashed A$1.5 million in February to secure his services for this year's IPL.

"I saw the talent in person, I knew he had it, so it hasn't surprised me what he's doing now," says Griffith.

"The Scorchers as we know are a very strong unit, so unfortunately for Tim, because they were so strong, he couldn't really force his way into that group.

"I just thought it was a great opportunity to get someone of his ability during my time down in Tassie, and I'd had a bit of a relationship with him in Perth, so that helped convince him to come down."

***

Part of Australia's fascination with David, along with his relatively soft spoken and quiet nature, is that he doesn't play any longer form cricket, and nor does he appear to want to.

Tasmania were hopeful he would be available for some 50-over Marsh Cup fixtures in early March this year, but the 26-year-old was enjoying some time off with his partner – Hockeyroos star Stephanie Kershaw – in Dubai between the end of the PSL and the start of the IPL.

Just days after the T20 World Cup this November, while his Australia teammates will be released to their states or begin their preparations for the Test series against the West Indies, David will jet off to the Abu Dhabi T10 League having just signed with Delhi Bulls this week.

Not that this is particularly unusual nowadays.

National white-ball captain Aaron Finch has effectively retired from red-ball cricket and Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell haven't played a first-class match since late 2019.

But there is a difference. That trio is bound by their full-time Cricket Australia central contracts or state deals, whereas David currently doesn't have either.

Griffith says he doesn't know if David has the desire to play longer formats, but he is certainly capable should he be willing to work hard enough for it.

"He does have batsmanship, he can play longer innings when required," he says.

"I think he can play a role in 50-over white-ball cricket … (and) we see the way red-ball cricket is going as well, the aggressive nature that some teams are playing with.

"There are times where his game won't suit conditions but there are other times where it's great to have someone that can go in and belt the ball around and try and build a lead or chase a score on the last day.

"I think he's got the ability to do it, it's up to him whether that's in his future or not.

"I think he understands what his ability is, but I also think there's a lot of opportunity, not only domestically here but around the world (in T20 cricket).

"There's not a lot of people that can play that role at the back end and go out and hit their first or second ball for four or six, and he can do that."

David says he is keeping his options open to play other formats, but so far, all his opportunities have been in T20 cricket.

"It's just evolved naturally that way and that's what I've been really enjoying," he told reporters today.

"My first opportunity after being released by Western Australia was to go play for Singapore.

"When I came back, I had an opportunity to go to the Hurricanes so from there the only thing I was going to do in playing professional cricket was play T20 cricket, so I guess you focus on those skills."

***

That Ricky Ponting, widely considered as the nation's greatest batter since Don Bradman, can describe a player who has played one professional match in Australia longer than 20 overs as "someone who could win you a World Cup", shows how far cricket's three formats have diverged.

And that selection chair George Bailey can justify Ponting's comments by today naming David in the squad for Australia's T20 World Cup defence, demonstrates how far cricket philosophy has progressed that holding a state contract is no longer deemed necessary for international success.

There was great surprise when David Warner was plucked from state cricket without a first-class match to make his debut for Australia in January 2009 – but now, the cricketing community has been calling for Tim David's inclusion for the past eight months, if not longer.

"His progression the last two years has been remarkable," Ponting told cricket.com.au.

"Two years ago, he's struggling to get a game for Perth, and went to Hobart and every other tournament he's played, he's just got better and better.

"You give him six balls and he can get 20 off six balls and that will win you a lot of games.

"He's the sort of guy that can win you a tournament … he's got that X-factor."

But now, with today's announcement, the time for talk and speculation about his Australia future and ambition is over and all that matters is performance – and one feels that's exactly how David likes it.

Men's T20 World Cup 2022

Australia squad: Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins (vc), Tim David, Aaron Finch (c), Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa

First round

Group A: Sri Lanka, Namibia, UAE, Netherlands

Group B: West Indies, Scotland, Ireland, Zimbabwe

Super 12 stage

Group 1: Australia, Afghanistan, England, New Zealand, A1, B2

Group 2: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, South Africa, B1, A2

Australia's T20 World Cup 2022 fixtures

Oct 22: v New Zealand, SCG, 6pm AEDT

Oct 25: v 1A, Optus Stadium, 10pm AEDT

Oct 28: v England, MCG, 7pm AEDT

Oct 31: v 2B, Gabba, 7pm AEDT

Nov 4: v Afghanistan, Adelaide Oval, 7pm AEDT

Click here for a full 2022 T20 World Cup fixture

Semi-finals

Nov 9: SCG, 7pm AEDT

Nov 10: Adelaide Oval, 7pm AEDT

Final

Nov 13: MCG, 7pm AEDT