Harvey was born Nicole Richards on 18 September 1992 in Truro, Cornwall. Her mother, Marilyn Richards, also played for Cornwall, in 2008 and 2009.[2] In 2020, whilst pregnant with her first child, Harvey was diagnosed with sepsis, but later recovered and gave birth in late 2020.[3]
Domestic career
Harvey made her county debut in 2005, for Cornwall against Devon in the County Challenge Cup, in which she hit 16* in an 8 wicket victory.[4] Harvey went on to play for Cornwall until the end of the 2008 season, and was the side's leading wicket-taker in the 2008 Women's County Championship, with 9 wickets at an average of 7.00, including a best bowling of 4/30.[5]
Ahead of the 2009 season, Harvey moved to play for Devon. She spent two seasons with the side, taking 17 Championship wickets (9 in 2009 and 8 in 2010), as well as scoring 218 runs in the 2010 Championship, including scoring 70 against Wales.[6][7][8][9] The following season, 2011, Harvey moved to Nottinghamshire. Her best performances for the side came that season in the Championship, where she took 9 wickets, including a best bowling of 4/25.[10]
In 2015, Harvey moved to Somerset. In 2016, she was the leading wicket-taker across the whole Twenty20 Cup, with 15 wickets at an average of 6.53, helping Somerset to promotion from Division 2.[14] The following season, she was Somerset's leading wicket-taker in the 2017 Women's County Championship, with 14 wickets including her maiden five-wicket haul, 5/22 against Surrey.[15][16] She was also Somerset's joint-leading wicket taker in the following Championship season, with 11 wickets at an average of 15.72.[17]
2019 was a strong season for Harvey: she made her List A high score, making 99* against Durham, took the joint-second highest wicket tally in the Championship, with 14 wickets, and was Somerset's leading wicket-taker in the Twenty20 Cup, with 12 wickets.[18][19][20] In 2021, Harvey helped Somerset to winning the West Midlands Group of the Twenty20 Cup, and took 4/2 from 4 overs in a match against Berkshire.[21] In the 2022 Women's Twenty20 Cup, she played four matches, scoring 83 runs and taking four wickets.[22][23]
In 2021, Harvey was selected in the Western Storm squad for their upcoming season.[24] She made her debut for the side on 29 May, against North West Thunder in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.[25] She went on to take 6 wickets in the tournament, at an average of 29.83.[26] She was also Western Storm's leading wicket-taker, and the fourth-highest across the whole competition, in the Charlotte Edwards Cup, with 12 wickets at an average of 9.41 and an economy of 4.70.[27] She also played for Welsh Fire in The Hundred, taking 4 wickets with the best runs per ball rate for her side, at 1.17.[28] She played just one match for Western Storm in 2022, in the Charlotte Edwards Cup. She was again in the Welsh Fire squad, but did not play a match for the side.[29] In 2023, she played five matches for Western Storm, all in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, taking three wickets.[30]