| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Mark Charles Jefford Nicholas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1957-09-29)29 September 1957 (age 68) Westminster, London, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Elvis, Jardine[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right armmedium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Fred Nicholas (grandfather) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1978–1995 | Hampshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:CricketArchive,7 January 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mark Charles Jefford Nicholas (born 29 September 1957) is an English cricket commentator and former cricketer and broadcaster. He played forHampshire from 1978 to 1995, captaining them from 1985 to his retirement. On 1 October 2023, he succeededStephen Fry as president ofMarylebone Cricket Club on a one-year term.[2][3]
Nicholas was born inWestminster, London. A grandson ofFred Nicholas,[1] he was educated atBradfield College where he was coached in cricket byJohn Harvey.
A middle-order batsman and occasional medium-pace bowler, Nicholascaptained Hampshire to four major trophies – theBenson & Hedges Cup in 1988 and 1992,Sunday League in 1986, andNatWest Trophy in 1991 (although he missed the final of the 1991 tournament through injury,[4]David Gower captaining in his absence). Although he captained an England 'B' tour to Sri Lanka in 1985–86,[5] an England A tour to Zimbabwe in 1989/1990,[1] and an "English Counties XI" tour of Zimbabwe in 1984–85,[6] he was never selected for the England senior team.
Known for his suave appearance and urbane manner, Nicholas is one of a long line of colourfully dressed characters to captainHampshire County Cricket Club, includingColin Ingleby-Mackenzie andC. B. Fry.
Since his retirement as a player, Nicholas has worked in broadcasting, first as a commentator forSky Sports, and from 1999 to 2005 as the anchorman forChannel 4's cricket coverage. He worked freelance in 1995 for Sky and others, before signing for Sky Sports in 1996 as anchorman, where his first major role was presenting domestic and international cricket.
He led Sky's coverage of England's winter tours to Zimbabwe and New Zealand in 1996/97, and continued this in the West Indies in 1998. His last role with Sky Sports was presenting the network's live and exclusive coverage of the1998/99 Ashes series in Australia.
He commentated for Australia'sNine Network during the Australian summer cricket season until they lost the rights before the 2018/19 season. He anchored the coverage, replacingRichie Benaud as the face of cricket on Nine, despite having previously been dropped from the commentary team.[7]
Until 2008 he wrote a weekly column forThe Daily Telegraph. He was named Sports Presenter of the Year in 2001 by theRoyal Television Society, as well as being one of only two presenters to stand in forRichard and Judy. Nicholas presented the second series of the English version of the reality showSurvivor. He continued his commitments to Australia's Nine Network in March 2006, anchoring the afternoon coverage of the2006 Commonwealth Games inMelbourne. He rated fourth in a Melbourne newspaper poll that set out to find the public's choice on the new host of the Australian version ofWho Wants to be a Millionaire?.
While as Channel 4 anchor for the cricket, Nicholas presentedToday at the Test which covered the highlights of the day's play at the England Test matches or the trophy finals.[8]
Nicholas was approached byChannel Five to cover England cricket highlights from 2006, the programme being namedCricket on 5. He was joined on the programme by former cricketerGeoffrey Boycott and analystSimon Hughes, both of whom worked with Nicholas at Channel 4, as well as former England captainMichael Vaughan.
Nicholas served as anchorman and commentator for theNine Network coverage of the2013–14 Ashes series and continued to serve this role for other Australian home Test series until they lost the rights in April 2018. He was part of the world feed commentary team for both the2007 Cricket World Cup in theWest Indies, and the2011 World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, 2015 Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and2019 Cricket World Cup in England. He presented highlights coverage of2012 Summer Olympics in London for the Nine Network.
Nicholas is the anchorman forEA SportsCricket 07 game. He introduces the matches the user is playing, and commentates during the game withRichie Benaud, taking over fromJim Maxwell.
In 2002, Nicholas hosted thesecond series of the United Kingdom edition ofSurvivor.[9] Nicholas began presentingITV1'sBritain's Best Dish in 2007 and fronted it for four series until in 2010; he was replaced byMary Nightingale.
In November 2016, he published theautobiographyA Beautiful Game: My Love Affair with Cricket.[10] Nicholas also co-wroteShane Warne's autobiographyNo Spin.
He was also a member of the world feed commentary team for2020 Indian Premier League.[11]
He commentated forSupersport inSouth Africa covering the South Africa vs India 2021–22 test match series.
Nicholas will serve a 12-month term as president of theMarylebone Cricket Club from 1 October 2023, having been nominated by his predecessor,Stephen Fry.[12]
After serving his term as president, he returned as anchor man and lead commentator forStar Sports (Indian broadcasting feed) for the2024-25 Border Gavaskar Trophy.
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Hampshire cricket captain 1985–1995 | Succeeded by |
| Awards | ||
| Preceded by | RTS Television Sport Awards Best Sports Presenter 2000 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | RTS Television Sport Awards Best Sports Presenter 2005 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
