Playing in Bedhampton Cricket Club's first XI in the Hampshire Cricket League after a schoolmate who had moved to England recommended the club, Nichols joined forces with a former South Launceston teammate to show the Poms how it's done.

Claiming 36 wickets at an average of 11.58 with a best bowling of 4-14, Soc, as he's affectionately called, took over a quarter of his side's wickets for the season.

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"We had a slow start to the season with a couple of injuries so there were a lot of ins and outs to the team," he said.

"The second half of the season we won seven of our last eight matches to finish mid-table."

Travelling to the royal nation at an incredible period for Australian sport, Nichols witnessed several World Cup matches as well as the moment Tim Paine's men retained The Ashes at Old Trafford.

But it was a contest against Alton Cricket Club that saw the 32-year-old medium pacer achieve one of sport's greatest feats - a hat-trick.

"Early in the game we were in a bit of trouble with the bat and our number 10 came out and smashed 30 quick runs at the end to get us a semi-decent target of about 170.

"The opposition were 1-50 off 10 then I came on and in the last ball of the first over, I got a wicket.

"Then the first two balls, I got a leading edge to short cover and the catch was taken by Dan Clark, who used to play for South."

Mixing his love of the sport with umpiring commitments on the weekends, Nichols has spent the last seven seasons captaining the Knights' third-grade side but has relinquished the role, harbouring ambitions for a second-grade berth this year.

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