Black Caps cricketer Doug Bracewell has been sentenced to a hundred hours community work for driving at more than three times the legal alcohol limit.

The 26-year-old has appeared in the Hastings District Court, after pleading guilty last month to one charge of driving with excess breath alcohol.

As well as the community work, Bracewell’s also been disqualified from driving for a year.

The player was pulled over on East Road in Haumoana in March, with a breath-alcohol reading of 783 - the legal limit is 250.

His lawyer Ron Mansfield has told the court that Bracewell was out at a function and received a call from his partner, who is distressed and upset because a friend’s dog had killed their valued cockotiel at their Haumoana home while they were both out.

Mr Mansfield said he was acting out of total concern for his partner, and made the wrong decision to drink drive to get home to comfort her.

It is Bracewell’s third drink driving offence, which meant the maximum penalty could have been two years imprisonment, disqualification from driving for a year, or a $6000 fine.

In 2010 he was convicted in the Masterton District Court for excess breath alcohol when he was 20 years old.

He was sentenced then to six months supervision and disqualified from driving for eight months.

He was first convicted of drink driving when he was just 18 years old.

In 2008 he had a breath-alcohol reading of 877, which was more than double the legal limit of 400 at the time.

Bracewell was fined $500 and disqualified from driving for six months for his first drink-driving offence.