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Following a report of suspected ball tampering during
a Plunket Shield match, Henry Nicholls has been found not guilty.
It seems that during a change of ends in last week’s
Canterbury vs. Auckland game, Nicholls brushed the ball against a helmet on
television.
The New Zealand Cricket Code of Conduct’s Rule 3.1,
Article 1.15, which prohibits altering the ball’s condition in violation of Law
41.3 of the Laws of Cricket, is the basis for the charge.
However, a disciplinary hearing has found “that
neither actions of Nicholls nor the evidence presented met the threshold
required to rule a breach.”
“We find the Player’s actions were, in fact,
unlikely to alter the condition of the ball or the shape of the ball,” the
commissioners noted.
An NZC statement continued: “That meant any
allegation of unacceptable behaviour under Rule 3.1 could not be upheld. The
charge against the Player was therefore dismissed.”
In addition to reviewing the evidence, independent
commissioners Lee Robinson and John Greenwood held a disciplinary hearing on
Saturday. Those in attendance included Nicholls, match umpires Kim Cotton and
Derek Walker, Canterbury coach Peter Fulton, Canterbury High Performance
Manager Ant Sharp, and Evan Jones, a representative of the New Zealand Cricket
Players Association.
In the game, Nicholls amassed 120 and 30 runs without
being out, enabling Canterbury to win by eight wickets. Right now, they are
positioned fourth on the Plunket Shield table.
Nicholls will travel with the New Zealand team to
Bangladesh for the next two Test series, which will take place after the ODI
World Cup.