An aggressive and clean striker of the ball, he is capable of destroying attacks on his day.
Nicholas is also adept at the reverse sweep and a handful of other more adventurous shots, not unlike his favorite player AB de Villiers.
The big hitting middle order batsman moved to the U.S. in 2005 as an 18-year-old from his native Barbados.
Thankfully shortly after arriving in the US, a friend of his hooked him up with a club in New York. Although mostly anonymous in Manhattan and the inner suburbs, cricket in New York thrives thanks to the melting pot of immigrants from the Caribbean and South Asian countries.
It was here that the young Standford started to make his mark with the bat. But his dreams of playing international cricket were stifled by eligibility requirements. Despite performing strongly for the New York Region’s U19 and Senior Men’s teams at National tournaments, he was unable to progress any further until he had been a resident in the U.S. for four years. As he bided his time he continued to pile up the runs.
Finally, in 2012 he was selected for his first U.S. squad. He performed well in the ICC Americas Division 1 T20 tournament in early 2013, averaging 30 with the bat at a strike-rate hovering around 100 and looked set for a long stint in the U.S. middle order.
However, his time in the team would be short-lived, and again he must have thought his dreams were being crushed. He was forced to have an entire year out of the game – a new job requiring him to work weekends.
To his credit, he came back to the sport he loved, and performed with the bat almost straight away. By 2015 he was back in the National side and performed with distinction in their disappointing performance at the World T20 qualifiers in Ireland.
He says he is really enjoying the feeling in the U.S. camp at the moment, that there is a new level of confidence in the group which he puts down to a number of their players having played and performed in different tournaments around the world. He pinpointed the success of their captain Steven Taylor in the Caribbean, along with the likes of Ibrahim Khaleel, Timil Patel and Camilus Alexander all having had significant first class experience. There is also a confidence that has come from them each knowing their specific roles in the side.
For Standford it has been quite the cricketing journey to this point. Now the next leg could help define his and his team mate’s legacy in the Red White and Blue.
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