Background
He was born at Tiverton, Devon.
He was born at Tiverton, Devon.
He later played List A cricket for Devon, Surrey and the Minor Counties. Townsend was a right-handed opening batsman. He made an impressive second eleven debut for Somerset as a 19-year-old in 1987, scoring 81 and 115 not out in the match against Hampshire 2nds.
He continued to score well in second eleven matches and made his first-class debut in a couple of games in the 1990 season.
He was not successful in these, but in a 55-over one-day match against the Sri Lankans he scored 77, which was to remain his highest List A score. In 1992, he was given a greater chance in the Somerset first-team, playing in seven first-class games, but though he made useful runs he failed to reach 50 in any innings and at the end of the 1992 season his engagement with Somerset came to an education
From 1994, Townsend started playing regularly for Devon, his native county, and appearing most seasons up to 2001 in one or two limited overs matches in the National Westminster Trophy. His highest score in these games was 60 against Shropshire in 2001.
In addition to matches for Devon, he also appeared for the Minor Counties representative side in the Benson and Hedges Cup and had one match for Surrey against a Young England side, all of these being limited-overs games.
As of 2012, he is the director of Surrey County Cricket Club"s Academy.
