Two More National Counties Products Join First-Class Ranks

Two more products of National Counties cricket will be in the first-class ranks when the new domestic season begins next week.

Wales NC batter Callum Nicholls has been recruited by Glamorgan on a rookie contract and Hertfordshire slow left-armer Troy Henry has joined Sussex on a similar deal having impressed the county at a recent open trial session.

Nicholls, the son of former Cardiff City footballer Ryan, has progressed through the age group pathways of both Wales and Glamorgan and made his National Counties debut for Wales in 2021.

Last summer was his breakthrough season as he made his maiden century against Dorset in a Durant Cricket National Counties Championship match at Ebbw Vale.

He has already made one appearance for Glamorgan, as a guest in the rain-blighted Showcase match against Herefordshire at Eastnor two years ago, and has been signed by the first-class county having scored heavily in club cricket for St Fagans last summer and in New Zealand over the winter.

Henry is a product of Hertfordshire’s age group teams and the Watford Town club.

He made his senior county debut against Cambridgeshire at Peterborough last summer and impressed with bat and ball in the victory over Northumberland at Hertford.

Henry made 51 not out in an unbroken ninth wicket partnership of 108 with Dominic Chatfield and followed up his two for seven in Northumberland’s first innings with three for 38 in the second to help secure a nine wickets win.

Henry is a former captain of the ACE team, a charity that helps to give opportunities to players from African and Caribbean heritage to become professional cricketers.

Nicholls and Henry have joined first-class counties with strong links to National Counties cricket.

The majority of Glamorgan’s Welsh-born players gain valuable experience of senior county cricket with Wales NC while Sussex have a formal pathway partnership with Oxfordshire which has seen James Coles, Zach Lion-Cachet and Harrison Ward progress into the first-class ranks in recent seasons.