It is with much sadness and shock that we learnt of the sudden passing of our past President on 8 March.
Nicholas was our respected and highly valued President from August 2019 until the AGM last year, August 2024. He stepped into the big shoes vacated by Sir John Hansen and took on the role with aplomb, charisma and dedication.
Nick’s history with cricket is a long one. He was the National Code of Conduct Commissioner between 1992 and 2015 and on a number of occasions re-wrote the Code of Conduct rules for New Zealand Cricket’s first-class and national cricket competitions in New Zealand.
He was also appointed to an International special committee to investigate corruption in cricket in the early millennium and he was also a member of the ICC Code of Conduct Commission Panel. Nick dealt with many disciplinary appeals in cricket, and in fact in rugby, and like his role in all other aspects of the law he exhibited an ability to listen and an understanding of the issues that comforted all those who were before him.
Nick was a senior member of the Bar and was appointed a QC (now KC) in 1998 and appointed as a High Court Judge in 2015. He presided over many well known cases including the Winebox inquiry in the 1990s and represented the families in the Pike River disaster from 2010-2015. Nick will be sadly missed, not only by many members of the legal fraternity but the communities in cricket, rugby and in many areas where he excelled with his mediation, adjudication and social skills.
He was a long time stalwart of Akaroa, assisting in setting up the Akaroa Health Hub facility there 10 years ago. He was always a valued and highly contributing member of that community.
Thank you Nick for all you have done for so many sectors of our community; thank you for being a lead in the continuing development of The Willows Cricket Club.
A further reflection from Rev Michael Hawke
The last conversation I had with Nick was at the Club AGM, and we talked about the recent sudden death of a young cricketer. This led Nick to reflect on the deeper things in life. Nick impressed me with his profound faith, his quiet and unpretentious manner, and his expression of life through others, he was a God honouring man.
This was perhaps best exemplified in Nick’s work as a trustee at 180 Degrees Trust who work to help and support under-privileged youth. Here targeted youth are challenged out in the natural environment both physically and emotionally. Nick himself summed it up best when he said of the Trust that “it is a core provider to rangatahi who have needs which reflect severe trauma and those who otherwise need steerage and mentoring at a very sensitive time in their lives”. He also continued this work right up to his death with the Springboard Trust in Warkworth.
The Hon Nicholas Davidson, KC (1948–2025)
President of The Willows 2019–2024
Willower since 1994