Henry Nicholls' Cricket Career Over? New Zealand Cricket Provides Massive Update

New Zealand batter Henry Nicholls has been cleared of the ball-tampering charges following a disciplinary hearing by the New Zealand Cricket Board (NZC). He was accused of ball-tampering after a visual showed him shining the ball with his sleeve and then doing something with his helmet.

Nicholls was reported by the umpires for allegedly breaching New Zealand Cricket’s code of conduct while playing for Canterbury in last week’s Plunket Shield match against the Auckland Aces at Hagley Oval in Christchurch. The stream of the game showed the 31-year-old batter allegedly connecting the ball with the helmet after shining the ball with his sleeves at the start of the 32nd, 33rd, and 35th overs of Auckland’s second innings on Wednesday.

Henry Nicholls was alleged to have breached rule 3.1, article 1.15 of the code of conduct, involving changing the condition of the ball in breach of Law 41.3 of the Laws of Cricket. The matter was referred to an NZC first-class commissioner.

On Sunday New Zealand Cricket released a statement confirming that Henry Nicholls had been cleared of all charges of misconduct, which now allows him to play in Canterbury’s next match, against the Central Stags in Napier from Wednesday. He will be a part of New Zealand’s test squad which will play Bangladesh later this month.

Henry Nicholls Is A Part Of New Zealand’s Test Team

“A disciplinary hearing conducted yesterday by independent commissioners Lee Robinson and John Greenwood examined the evidence and heard submissions from Nicholls, match umpires Kim Cotton and Derek Walker, Canterbury coach Peter Fulton, Canterbury High-Performance Manager Ant Sharp, and New Zealand Cricket Players Association representative, Evan Jones,” the statement read.

“The Commissioners found that neither the actions of Nicholls nor the evidence presented met the threshold required to rule a breach of the Code under Rule 3.1 Article 1.15 (Appendix A). We find the player’s actions were, in fact, unlikely to alter the condition of the ball or the shape of the ball.”

Henry Nicholls has had a brilliant start to the domestic season, scoring 124 and 61 in his first match of the Plunket Sheild, against the Otago Volts in Christchurch. He then scored 120 and 30 not out there against Auckland Aces.

The left-handed batter has been a key asset for the Black Caps test team since his debut in 2016. He averages 38.78 from 54 tests, including 12 half-centuries and nine centuries. In his last test knock, he scored an unbeaten 200 against Sri Lanka in Wellington in March 2023.