In both roles, he usually had to play second fiddle to Kent's established stars, being behind Peter Richardson, Brian Luckhurst, Mike Denness and Graham Johnson for most of his career as an opening batsman, and being deputy to Alan Knott as wicketkeeper.
In an 18-season first-class cricket career, he played more than 200 matches for Kent, plus almost 100 List A games, but was a regular member of the side with a fixed place in the team for only a couple of years in the early 1970s.
Luckhurst and Denness took advantage of vacancies in the batting line-up to establish themselves in the side, but Nicholls was unable to do so: although he played in 16 first-class matches, he made only 684 runs at an average of just 25.
Wisden noted: "He was not merely to be regarded as the deputy wicket-keeper... Nicholls emerged as a highly successful opening batsman, scoring his runs quickly and in entertaining fashion, well-deserving to reach 1,000 for the first time in his career.
[10] Nicholls remained a regular player in the 1972 season, but he failed to make 1,000 runs and his highest score was just 60.