“Nico”, as he is affectionately known as by his team-mates and coaches, is about to enter his 23rd season as a professional cricketer, and the Cumbrian is pleased to have signed a new one year contract last October.
He said: “I’m delighted to get another contract. There aren’t many players that have played four decades. I think there are only four of us, Dominic Cork, Mark Ramprakash, Robert Croft and myself, so I’m delighted.”
He joined Leicestershire in 1989 as a youngster. In the 22 seasons that have passed, Nixon has represented Kent as well as two stints in a Foxes shirt. An IPL (Indian Premier League) invite for Delhi Giants to go along with a call up to the England squad in Australia in 2007, and a World Cup selection in West Indies in the same year.The evergreen professional has enjoyed two County Championship titles with Leicestershire, a Norwich Union – One Day title with Kent, two Twenty20 cup wins, as well as four consecutive finals days in the first four seasons of the new competition.
Nixon recalled his time during the Jack Birkenshaw era, when the club dominated cricket for many seasons.
“The team (1996 and 1998 County Championship winning sides) were just peaking, just like the England Rugby team who won the World Cup. Each player was really starting to know his game. It was a small squad, so we knew we had to be fit and up for the challenge, and we knew our resources were smaller than the test playing counties,” Nixon said.
“We had a great atmosphere, we were very positive. James Whitaker (Head Coach) instilled that in every person.
“Jack [Birkenshaw] loves the game, passionate about the game and that rubs off on the players. I was delighted he had the success down here. He’s a well loved character in the game.”
Nixon believes his call up to England was probably the highlight of his career.“For me, walking out in Sydney in the first Twenty20, representing England versus Australia. When you get picked for England, and then you play for England, then it’s your dream. That’s what it is all about. You walk out with the ‘Lions’ on your shirt. To see the ‘Barmy Army’ and the thousands there, it was a very special moment.”
Four years on, Nixon has handed his keeping duties to Tom New to become a specialist batsman in first-class cricket.
However, a knee-injury in pre-season training has forced him to rest for a few weeks. But he is optimistic that he will be fit for the first game of the season.
He said: “I tore my cartilage eight days ago in training doing some sprints, but fortunately I got surgery straightaway. I’m back running again, and I really can’t wait for the new season.”
After recent seasons in which Leicestershire have struggled in Division Two of the Liverpool Victoria County Championship (LVCC), the Foxes enjoyed a good season under the captaincy of shock signing, former England and Yorkshire paceman Matthew Hoggard. The club finished fourth, but narrowly missed out on finishing in the top three.
“Our goal is to get Division One status. That is one of our targets. We were only literally a couple of points from going up. We had a relatively young squad as well as our overseas Andrew McDonald,” he said.
“Hopefully, I’ll have a great year for Leicestershire, and as Virender Sehwag always says, ‘the sun always shines for another innings’.”
