Shiv Thakor says new club Derbyshire are full of ambition
Youngster wants to become fully-fledged all-rounder...
Thursday 9 April 2015 12:02, UK
Shiv Thakor told Sky Sports that Derbyshire’s grand plans convinced him to join the county ahead of the 2015 season.
Thakor, 21, penned a two-year-deal with the Midlands side after turning down the opportunity to remain at Leicestershire, his hometown team with whom he debuted as a 17-year-old.
The former England Under-19 skipper says he was not short of offers but believes signing for Derbyshire will allow him to become a fully-fledged all-rounder.
"They are enthusiastic about how they want to go forward with ground development and world-class signings."
“I spoke to a number of counties and there isn’t really a bad one to join at the moment, but at this stage of my career I thought this was the best choice for me,” said Thakor, whose 2014 campaign was blighted by a finger injury.
“Mainly it was the clear ambition and vision that Derbyshire showed; they are enthusiastic about how they want to go forward and develop the club on and off the field with ground development and world-class signings.
“But it was also about the role they saw me playing; I want to push for a place in the top or upper-middle order and develop into a genuine all-rounder as opposed to the batting all-rounder I have probably been in the past.”
Thakor’s stats back up his point.
The right-hander holds a first-class batting average of a shade over 39, having notched two centuries, nine fifties and 1,288 runs in his 24 games, the last of which came in September 2013.
Thakor’s bowling numbers don’t make for such great reading at this stage, though, with the medium-pacer’s 16 wickets coming at almost 50.
Yet, the youngster is adamant that he can improve with the ball as he trains with Derbyshire director of cricket Graeme Welch, a man credited for developing Warwickshire’s seam attack prior to the Bears’ County Championship triumph in 2012.
“I have worked with Graeme over the winter to try and advance my bowling so hopefully it will come to fruition this summer,” said Thakor.
“It is widely documented that Graeme is one of the best bowling coaches around as well as a brilliant man manager and I couldn’t echo that more from what I’ve seen since working with him.
"There's Lancashire, Surrey and Essex but five or six teams could quite easily compete for honours."
“I know he can add a lot to my bowling and, along with the strength and conditioning coach, I hope he can get me to bowl a bit quicker, too.”
Forward
Thakor is not the only new face at The County Ground this term, with Wayne White returning to Derbyshire after spells at Leicestershire and Lancashire, and World Cup stars Martin Guptill and Tillakaratne Dilshan inking deals to play for the club at various points this campaign.
With proven campaigners like captain Wayne Madsen and left-arm seamer Mark Footitt, as well as promising talents such as wicketkeeper Harvey Hosein and all-rounder Greg Cork – son of Sky Sports expert and former England man Dominic – added into the mix, Thakor insists his new team are targeting promotion back into the top flight of the County Championship.
“There’s a good mix between the experienced lads and the young guys, so there is a great atmosphere around the place,” said Thakor. “We are all very good friends but we work really hard, too.
“It will be great to learn from some top overseas players who can take us forward as a club and make everyone raise their standards.
"Promotion is definitely the aim - there are lots of tough teams in this division, with the likes of Lancashire, Surrey and Essex, who are always strong, but five or six teams could quite easily compete for honours.”
While New Zealand’s Guptill and Sri Lanka’s Dilshan flourished at the World Cup – the former smacking two centuries, including a tournament record 237, en route to topping the run-scoring charts, and the latter thumping a couple of tons of his own – the same cannot be said for England.
Eoin Morgan’s side failed to beat a Test-playing nation down under and were sent packing in the group stage following defeat to Bangladesh, leading to plenty of pundits bemoaning the state of English one-day cricket and Paul Downton losing his job as managing director of the ECB.
Thakor, however, remains positive that his country can turn their fortunes around, though he is not thinking too intently about being part of the international set-up just yet.
“The World Cup reignited one-day cricket and there is a lot for England take away from it and think about,” Thakor added, after Australia defeated New Zealand in the final to win the tournament for a fifth time.
“We didn’t have the best of times but there are some excellent players who perform day in, day out in county cricket who will soon get the chance to help lift the England side.
“It wasn’t too long ago we were No 1 in the world in Test cricket and when some of the guys new to international cricket bed in we will get the results.
“Would I like to be involved for England? Of course, and the Lions is a real target of mine, but that will take care of itself if I get wickets and runs for Derbyshire.”
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