Tim Towers 1955-91
Randwick Petersham Cricket Club | January 10, 2025
It was a sad day for Randwick cricketers and cricket in general on 7 March 1991 when Tim Towers, one of the club’s top performers during the 1970s and early 80s, passed away. He was just 36. A great fighter on the cricket field he was no match for the dreaded cancer and diabetes which he had battled for some years.
Timothy Brendan Towers was born on 18 February 1955 at Paddington Women’s Hospital. He was the youngest son and fourth child of former Australian rugby great Cyril Towers. He joined Randwick Cricket Club as a Green Shield boy in the summer of 1970-71. A lively fast-medium bowler and useful lower order batsman, Tim quickly established himself as a player of the future, making his Grade Cricket debut in 4th Grade that same season.
Two seasons later he won the batting average in 4th Grade although he only played seven games, knocking up 130 runs at 32.50 with 55* his best. He also took 10 wickets at just 17.5 to confirm his potential.
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In 1973-84, the 18 year old opened the bowling in 2nd Grade. After taking 5-29 against Bankstown he was ushered into 1st Grade where he made his debut against Mosman at Rawson Park in round 6. Tim made 1* and 11 with the bat while he only got a few overs to take 1-8 having Sandy Morgan caught by John Johnson for 13. He finished the season with 19 wickets.
The following season he played a mixture of 1st and 2nd Grade but in 1975-76 he was installed as the new ball bowler in 1st Grade, a position he held until 1981 when work commitments took him to Charlestown in Newcastle where he remained with his wife Glenyce and daughters Kate and Sally until his untimely death.
Tim was one of the stars of Randwick’s premiership reign during the late 1970s and was a leading member of the 1st Grade premiership teams of 1977-78 and 1979-80. Had he stayed another season with Randwick he would have been able to add another premiership to his impressive CV as the team won again in 1981-82.
In the first of those premiership wins, Tim was the spearhead of the attack taking 29 wickets. He also hit 45* in the first match of that season to shape what turned out to be an undefeated season for the team. Playing Wests at SCG2 Towers accounted for Test players Dirk Wellham and Greg Dyer in a 5-56 performance which resulted in a one wicket win.
In the 1979-80 win, Towers recorded the outstanding figures of 38 wickets at 19.34. The highlight of that season however, was the emergence of fast bowler Michael Whitney. Captain Alan Turner’s comment s in the annual report of that season emphasised the value of Tim’s contribution to the team and to Whitney’s development when he wrote: “Both Michael Whitney and Tim Towers secured 38 wickets for the season and together have formed a most penetrative opening combination. Tim made the difficult transition from bowling with the wind to bowling into it. His line, length and ability to move the ball in the air and off the seam never faltered from match to match. Tim’s ability to read a situation served him well and I sense it served Michael Whitney well judging from their many impromptu conferences on the field”.
In his 11 seasons with Randwick, Tim Towers took 238 wickets, scored 919 runs and held 31 catches. With his Poidevin-Gray and A W Green Shield figures these figures expand to 266 wickets, 1,269 runs and 37 catches with 7-47 against Wests in PGs his best. Of those, 200 wickets, 655 runs and 27 catches were achieved in 1st Grade. He took five wickets in an innings five times with his best figures of 6-41 coming in 1980-81, his last Randwick season against Northern District at his home ground, Coogee. An interesting feature of Tim Towers’ bowling career is that while he only had five hauls of five wickets or better, he regularly disposed of one or both opening bats. His figures regularly contained three wickets with the occasional four. He rarely failed to take a wicket in a turn at the bowling crease and for that reason alone was highly regarded by the captains he served.
Tim’s cricket continued to flourish when he left Randwick and his efforts helped mould Charlestown into one of the most formidable outfits in the Newcastle competition. He took 212 wickets with Charlestown as they notched up five premierships. Tim also went on to representative honours playing with the Newcastle team in two Country Championship wins.
Tim Towers was a great cricketer but an even better team man. His competitive nature and the manner in which he encouraged his team-mates, particularly the younger brigade, earned him enormous respect. He was a man for a tight situation and he never shirked the challenge.
While Tim didn’t play representative cricket for the state, he acted as a substitute for NSW Colts in a match against Queensland at the SCG in December 1976. Fielding in the second innings, he took two catches as part of Murray Bennett’s 4-18, a contribution which assisted greatly in winning the match. Interestingly, the NSW team included 21-year-old Allan Border, who made 14 and 20-year-old Andrew Hilditch, who didn’t get to bat, yet opened the innings for Australia in an Ashes Test against England a little over two years later. Also in the team was Mark Perry, whose daughter, Ellyse, would become one of Australia’s greatest female cricketers.
The esteem with which Tim was held is represented by the current day Randwick Petersham Player of the Season award which bears his name along with Stuart Gardner from Petersham-Marrickville who displayed similar traits.
Lyall Gardner OAM
Randwick Petersham Historian
