Henry Nicholls says an affable immersion into the Black Caps explains his seamless start to international career.
The left-handed Cantabrian scored his second
half-century in eight one-day internationals to help guide New Zealand
to a 159-run drubbing of Australia in the series-opener in Auckland on
Wednesday.
He struck 61 off 67 balls to further cement his
place, days after being included in the New Zealand squad for the World
Twenty20 in India.
Nicholls is also favoured to bat at No.4 in his Test
debut if Ross Taylor is ruled out of the longer-form series against
Australia later in February.
Even if he has to bide his time, the 24-year-old has
shown the composure and shot selection to suggest he will be the
long-term middle-order replacement when captain Brendon McCullum
retires.
Nicholls says he has felt at home since making his
debut against Sri Lanka on Boxing Day, having crafted a tidy average of
39.4 from seven ODI innings.
Even
the intense atmosphere at Eden Park and playing against a nation he
followed intently as a youngster didn't play on his mind as he built a
pivotal partnership of 100 with opener Martin Guptill (90).
"It's
a really great culture we've got and the guys make it really easy to
just go out there and trust your performance and contribute to team
wins," he said.
"The Aussies, I grew up watching
them and some of their great series. It was cool to be part of that game
and to be part of a win as well."
Nicholls also
belies his inexperience off the field, refusing to get carried away with
their emphatic start to the three-match series.
He
fully expects the stung tourists to bounce back for game two in
Wellington on Saturday, particularly their power-packed batting lineup.
"It was one of the days that we really hit our straps with the ball, the way we came out and got those early wickets," he said.
"But it's a fickle game, cricket, it can turn pretty quickly."
NZN
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