Blackcap Henry Nicholls under Investigation for ball tampering

Blackcaps regular and Canterbury batter Henry Nicholls has come under investigation by NZC following an issue where Nicholls was supposedly caught rubbing the ball on his helmet.

There were at least three occasions where Nicholls allegedly scraped the ball across a helmet during play on day three of the fixture.

Henry Nicholls allegedly rubbing the ball against a helmet. Photo Credit: NZC

It can be seen in the video stream that Nicholls was shining the ball with his sleeve before what looks to be the ball connecting with his helmet during the breaks between the 32nd, 33rd, and 35th overs of the Auckland innings.

On the matter, NZC stated that he was reported by the match umpires for breaching NZC’s code of conduct. It will now go through a NZC first class commissioner before a hearing and a potential penalty will be decided.

Henry Nicholls (L) and Matt Boyle (R) walk between the crease during overs. Nicholls can be seen rubbing the ball on what appears to a helmet. Photo Credit: NZC

The batter has been reported for allegedly breaching rule 3.1, article 1.15 of the code. This rule involves the changing of the condition of law 41.3 of the laws of cricket.

Nicholls is the current top run scorer in the Plunket Shield this season having made 335 runs from 4 innings at an average of 111.67 and a high score of 124.

The rules surrounding changing the condition of the ball. Credit: NZC Code of Conduct

In international cricket, changing the condition of the ball became a level 3 offence in 2018 following the ball-tampering saga regarding Australia's Cameron Bancroft, Steve Smith and David Warner.