NZ test star Henry Nicholls cleared of ball tampering
Wellington, Nov 12: New Zealand Test batter Henry Nicholls has been cleared of ball tampering charges by a New Zealand Cricket code of conduct hearing.
Nicholls was reported by umpires after a domestic first class match last week between his Canterbury province and Auckland. Live stream coverage of the match appeared to show Nicholls, while fielding, brushing the ball on a helmet during the change of ends on the third day of the match Wednesday.
Nicholls was reported under Rule 3.1, Article 1.15 of the Code of Conduct which involves changing the condition of the ball. The charge was referred to a first class Commissioner.
In a statement on Sunday, New Zealand Cricket said Nicholls had been cleared of the charge. He is free to play in Canterbury's next match and is due to tour Bangladesh with the New Zealand team later this month.
"A disciplinary hearing conducted yesterday by independent commissioners Lee Robinson and John Greenwood examined evidence and heard submissions from Nicholls, match umpires Kim Cotton and Derek Walker, Canterbury coach Peter Fulton, Canterbury High Performance Manager Ant Sharp and New Zealand Cricket Players Association representative Evan Jones," the statement said.
"The Commissioners found that neither the actions of Nicholls nor the evidence presented met the threshold required to rule a breach of the Code under Rule 3.1, Article 1.15 (Appendix A).
"We find the player's actions were, in fact, unlikely to alter the condition of the ball or the shape of the ball."
Nicholls has played 54 tests for New Zealand and has scored nine centuries and 12 half-centuries. In his last test, he scored an unbeaten double century against Sri Lanka.
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Airlines got 999 hoax bomb threats till Nov 14 this year; 256 FIRs filed: Govt
New Delhi, Nov 28: Airlines received 999 hoax bomb threats this year till November 14 and as many as 256 FIRs have been filed while guidelines have been issued by aviation security regulator BCAS for objective assessment of threats, the government said on Thursday.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said a total of 1,148 hoax bomb threat messages/calls have been received since August 2022 till November 14, 2024 threatening the operations of international and domestic air travel.
While 999 threats were received by airlines during the period from January to November 14, 2024, the count stood at 122 last year and at 27 for the August-December 2022 period.
"256 FIRs have been filed since January 2024 till 14 November 2024, out of which 163 FIRs have been filed during 14 October- 14 November 2024. 12 arrests have been made in view of hoax bomb threat since January 2024 till 14 November 2024," the minister said.
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has issued guidelines for objective assessment of threats. The indicative factor has been useful in reducing time taken by the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) during the decision-making process.
"Also, to reduce the overall time taken for convening BTAC to less than 5 minutes, virtual assembly of BTAC through pre-generated video link has been set up. Further, advisories for compulsory 10 per cent of secondary ladder point check-in for all flights, strict monitoring of non-scheduled flight operations, enhanced security measures and surveillance at cargo terminals were issued," Mohol said.
Further, the minister said the government is considering amending the Aircraft (Security) Rules, 2023 to put hoax threat messenger in the no-fly list.
"It is also being considered to amend Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation for covering Aircraft in flight as well as on ground, airport etc," he added.
