Shiv enjoying life in County's Academy

Date: Friday 28 November 2008

Shiv Thakor is clearly a young man who is going places.

The talented teenager is currently combining his cricket development at Leicestershire’s blossoming academy with studying for his GCSEs at Uppingham School, and is working incredibly hard to make everything a success.

The 15-year-old has played for County at all under-age levels and has appeared for the second XI on numerous occasions.

He also played a prestigious game at Lord’s last season for England under-15s as part of his continued development, and starred with an unbeaten half-century in a thrilling tie.

As well as this, Thakor is also currently trialling for the Midlands regional squads at u15 and 16 level, and has been invited to take part in the England u19s 2012 World Cup Player Development Programme.

The teenager’s passion for sport does not end at cricket though. He is also a keen hockey and rugby player, where he plays in the A team at Uppingham School along with being a member of the first XI at cricket.

To go along with all his sporting endeavours, Thakor also balances his studies into his daily routine. He is preparing for exams in maths, English, physics, chemistry, biology, geography, history, religion and philosophy, French and ICT.

To many people, this would seem a daunting task, but Thakor relishes the challenging nature of his lifestyle. He is also keen to share what he does in the Academy as part of his training schedule.

The schedule includes working with a wide variety of County coaches as well as other important individuals, and Thakor enjoys it thoroughly.

“A key part of fitness training is my functional flexibility sessions,” he said. “It works on my strength, and I work with Susie Woolmer as part of that. It includes general strength and also sessions where I work on my speed.

“I also have batting drills and decision-making sessions with Phil Whitticase and do bowling practice and fielding drills with Lloyd Tennant. I have lifestyle workshops with Lynsey Williams as well as work on psychology with Ted.

“And, to go along with that, I work with (former County batsman) Trevor Ward in the nets at Uppingham School. I enjoy all of the different sessions and it all helps as part of my development.”

It appears that enjoyment is at the centre of everything Thakor does, and that is how it should be in the Academy. It seems that work done already in his career has started to pay off, as he proved his quality in the aforementioned game at Lords’s.

The 50-over match was part of the Bunbury England Schools Cricket Association day on Wednesday 10 September, a game which celebrated 60 years of the ESCA. Thakor made the top score of the innings - 50 not out - batting at number seven to help England to 195-9 from their allotted overs.

In reply, he also showed his skills ith the ball by bowling five overs at a cost of just nine runs as England restricted their opponents to 195-7. The teenager came on first change and his tidy spell helped to ensure England avoided defeat.

His opponents that day are a famous side in history, with a number of England internationals having represented the Bunbury side in the past.

The England Ashes-winning side of 2005 contained nine former Bunburys, including Michael Vaughan, Andrew Flintoff and Marcus Trescothick.

Thakor was clearly facing stern opposition in the game, so his performance suggest a rosy future – he is certainly one to watch out for in the coming seasons.