Nicholls fills New Zealand’s greatest shoes with composed comeback century
Nicholls fills New Zealand’s greatest shoes with composed comeback century
Kane Williamson’s shock mid-series retirement left Henry Nicholls in the unenviable position of trying to replace the output of New Zealand’s greatest modern batter, but he rose to the challenge in style.
Promoted to No. 3, and playing only his third Test since the start of 2024, Nicholls finished the third day unbeaten on 119 against England at The Oval. He said that his innings reflected his clarity and experience at the age of 34, and the fact that he had been “playing his best cricket” of his life while churning out runs for Canterbury back home.
Nicholls’ Recent Form
Nicholls was the leading run-scorer in the 2025-26 Plunket Shield season, making 870 runs at an average of 96.66 across 11 innings. He had shown a glimpse of his form when picked for an off-Broadway tour to Zimbabwe last year, scoring 150 not out in an innings win in the second Test, and made England’s inexperienced seam attack pay on a baking-hot south London day.
“Being out of the team for a bit and playing domestically, [I’ve been] really just trying to enjoy my cricket,” Nicholls told Sky Sports. “I certainly, in the last couple of years, feel like I’ve actually been playing my best cricket. For me as well, having played a significant number of Tests [58, before this one] knew what it takes at this level.
“I guess I had the confidence coming in here to believe in myself. I’ve done it before, but to come out here today and do it and contribute in this innings [is pleasing]… It’s obviously a great day personally, but from the team perspective, to bowl them out with the lead and then to be where we are now was exactly what we wanted at the start of the day.”
Praise for Domestic Cricket
He praised the standard of domestic cricket in New Zealand and said that his ability to succeed on his return to the side after hardly playing in the last two-and-a-half years was a testament to the team’s culture.
“You’ve seen over the last probably four or five years, every player that’s come into the group, they don’t look out of place and they’re really comfortable. It’s a credit to domestic cricket, but the Black Caps environment as well.”
Reaction from Teammates
Matt Henry, who had earlier completed his first five-wicket haul against England, said that Nicholls had shown his “resilience” to ignore the pressure of trying to replace Williamson. “I’m just so happy for him,” he said. “He’s shown for a long time his class, and he’s been churning out runs for a long time.
“There’s always external noise, but I suppose it shows the character of him and his resilience to block it out and just do what he needs to do for the team. That’s something he puts a lot of pride into – [doing] what the team needs – and he surely did that today.”
Nicholls suggested that, counterintuitively, replacing a great like Williamson took the pressure off him, in that he was never likely to replicate his output.
“I certainly knew when I was coming in for him, I wasn’t going to be able to replace him,” he explained. “He’s just such an incredible player, but I just really enjoyed being back in the team – and even in the first innings, enjoyed being back in Test-match cricket.
“In the second innings, I just wanted to try to replicate that, and you want to contribute, and you want to do all of these things. But it was just building a partnership with Rachin [Ravindra] and even Daz [Daryl Mitchell] at the end there.”
New Zealand’s Strong Position
New Zealand had stretched their lead to 352 overnight with seven second-innings wickets in hand, having earlier bowled England out for just 291. Henry said that he was particularly pleased to have contributed after back spasms limited his effectiveness in the first Test at Lord’s, and highlighted the role that Tom Blundell had played by coming up to the stumps.
“I have plenty of faith in the medical team, and thankfully we had that bit of a window just to try settle the body down,” Henry said. “As always, there’s a bit of nerves when you’re coming back from something like that… Knowing that it was going to be a really good surface out here, you’re going to have to be able to keep coming in, so it’s great that [the body] is doing alright so far.”
