Still, it was enough to leave him on the selectors’ radar and with nine players unavailable for the Pakistan tour due to the IPL, including Will Young (county) and Tim Latham (paternity), Robinson was one of them. To profit. But selector Sam Wells’ call was still plenty to take.
“I was stuttering trying to have a conversation, but I was struggling a little bit,” he told reporters. “I couldn’t believe it and to be honest it still hasn’t sunk in. It’s hard to put things like that into words. I’ve dreamed about it since I was a kid, trying to hit sixes in the back yard but it’s pretty amazing to see it all come to fruition and really excited.
“I love hitting sixes and trying to entertain people and to be honest it’s addictive when you get out of the middle and it’s a mile away and I (the century) took a lot of confidence but it’s a completely different challenge and I’m excited to get out there and have a real crack at it.”
“He’s been a wonderful role model for me,” she said. “We help each other and see who can hit the ball the most. He’s a great guy and it gives me comfort that I’m going with him.”
“It’s been a slow grind, a lot of days in the basin working hard on all the little things,” he said. “For people who haven’t lived that journey it probably feels fast but for me it’s a bit of a slow grind.
“It was another great honor to be elected captain for the first time. I had three days of gold: an eight-for in the basin, a hole-in-one the next day and the third thing I’ll never forget is the three days of captaincy.
“It’s a little bit sweeter when you have some time on the side to further reflect and cultivate that hunger to get back out there.”
Pakistan’s five matches will be crucial in confirming a small number of precarious places in New Zealand’s T20 World Cup squad and Bracewell, who provides middle-order power with the bat and his offspin, will be a strong contender but he is not. Not looking too far ahead.
“Obviously there are some exciting things to come in the rest of the year but the job at hand is taking Pakistan on their own terms,” he said. “Obviously we focus on that. Obviously you have those ideas about where you want to be but the only way to get where you want to go is to focus on what’s in front of you.”