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Full name Matthew James Nicholson
Born October 2, 1974, St Leonards, Sydney, New South Wales
Current age 33 years 342 days
Major teams Australia,New South Wales,Northamptonshire,Surrey,Western Australia
Nickname Nicho
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium
Height
1.97 m
Batting and fielding averages
Mat
Inns
NO
Runs
HS
Ave
BF
SR
100
50
4s
6s
Ct
St
Tests
1
2
0
14
9
7.00
47
29.78
0
0
0
0
0
0
First-class
124
171
34
3258
133
23.78
4
6
70
0
List A
79
47
15
485
57*
15.15
0
1
19
0
Twenty20
24
9
4
76
20*
15.20
65
116.92
0
0
3
3
5
0
Bowling averages
Mat
Inns
Balls
Runs
Wkts
BBI
BBM
Ave
Econ
SR
4w
5w
10
Tests
1
2
150
115
4
3/56
4/115
28.75
4.60
37.5
0
0
0
First-class
124
23372
12150
406
7/62
29.92
3.11
57.5
11
0
List A
79
3530
3123
85
3/23
3/23
36.74
5.30
41.5
0
0
0
Twenty20
24
24
457
608
28
3/12
3/12
21.71
7.98
16.3
0
0
0
Career statistics
Only Test
Australia v England at Melbourne, Dec 26-29, 1998 scorecard
Test statistics
First-class debut
1996/97
Last First-class
Surrey v Sussex at The Oval, Aug 20-23, 2008 scorecard
New South Wales v Queensland at Sydney, Jan 8, 2006 scorecard
Last Twenty20
Surrey v Essex at The Oval, Jun 11, 2008 scorecard
Profile
A right-arm fast bowler and capable lower-order batsman, Matthew Nicholson learned his cricket in New South Wales, where he was a schoolboy star and the country's under-19 player of the year in 1992-93. During those years he developed what is a lilting run-up, a whippy, open-chested action, and a tendency to generate disarming bounce from his 6'6" height. But, for all of his early successes, Nicholson found it difficult to break into a strong NSW side and decided he would be better served by a shift to Western Australia. Initially, the relocation brought no change in fortune, but he made his first-class debut against West Indies in 1996-97 and illustrated substantial promise, only to miss the entire 1997-98 season with chronic fatigue syndrome, which was an after-effect of glandular fever. He was eventually able to control the disease through a diet free of alcohol, dairy and meat products and following 18 months on the sidelines signalled his return with a sizzling performance against England at the start of 1998-99. He supplemented 7 for 77 in the first innings with a maiden half-century, and subsequent success in the Sheffield Shield resulted in a surprise call-up to the Australian team for the fourth Test at Melbourne. He claimed four wickets for the match after taking 3 for 56 in the second innings, but did not hold his place. A combination of further injuries and an occasional tendency to bowl with too much width ensured the 1999 tour of Zimbabwe was his last with the senior national team. A switch back to New South Wales came in 2003-04 and he picked up 39 Pura Cup wickets and Australia A selection. The following season he formed a brutal combination with Nathan Bracken and Stuart Clark, adding 47 first-class victims, including seven in the Pura Cup final victory over Queensland. A quieter 2005-06 followed and he was cut for the ING Cup final before proving he was still potent with 46 county wickets at 31.97 to top Northamptonshire's tally for the season. It was a strong English summer all-round for Nicholson, who made 454 runs and belted 106 from 93 balls against Derbyshire. His value to New South Wales is now mostly in the first-class arena - he played only two one-day games last season - and his 31 victims at 29.67 included five in the final loss to Tasmania. He returned to England for the 2007 season, this time with Surrey.
Cricinfo staff June 2007
