Warm sands of time

ches Beach and surrounding streets too.

Only for them, unlike most of us dreamers, the game continued into manhood and into the cauldron of Test cricket.

Tim’s story took a marvellous turn this summer when he fulfilled what so many of us dreamt about as kids and was selected to play in an Ashes series.

More than 10 years ago, when Tim was just 16, former Mercury sports writer David Stockdale wrote a yarn touting him a future Aussie keeperbatsman.

Stockers was not the only one impressed. Tim won a rookie contract for Tassie at 16 and the national selectors picked him in the PM’s XI to play England in Canberra. With news of his selection, Tim smacked 215 and 84 in successive Pura Cup and Ford Ranger Cup wins over WA, winning man of the match in both.

But, alas, his career was derailed in a charity game a few summers back when he was hit on the right index finger. There were doubts he would return. In the next two years he endured six operations, many pins and plates and two bone grafts.

When he was hit on that same finger while batting in Adelaide this week, you could almost hear friends and family in Tasmania collectively hold their breath.

When he was hit a second time on that same damned finger, it was beyond a joke.

Thankfully, it appears he will play in the third Test in Perth, but the cricket gods have already shown they have an intriguing tale in mind for the Tassie star.

I just hope they allow him to show more of his classical style with the bat and grace with the gloves.

World cricket needs more of his type, and he carries with him the dreams of so many of us with memories of childhood summers on the beach.