Thakor and Wells get England call-ups

Date: Tuesday 22 December 2009

Leicestershire CCC confirmed today that 16-year-old Shiv Thakor and 17-year-old Tom Wells (son of Leicester Tigers player and England Coach John Wells) have been picked for the England under-18 squad to tour India in February 2010.

Shiv is a top order batsman who is also a useful fourth seamer. Tom is an opening/first change bowler and useful late order batsman. Both players are on the Leicestershire Academy and are products of the Leicestershire development system.

Leicestershire Chief Executive David Smith said: “In the last 18 months the club has provided the England age group set up with James Taylor, Josh Cobb, Greg Smith, Nathan Buck, Alex Wyatt, Shiv Thakor, Tom Wells and Ben Collins at under 15 level. That is eight players in total.

“There is a consistent pipeline of good young English qualified players developed through the Leicestershire and Rutland system and there are others in the system already identified to follow.

“Leicestershire are totally committed to producing young England qualified players through our development system.”

Smith also praised County’s coaching staff and added: “I would like to place on record my appreciation of the hard work that has been undertaken by Tim Boon and his coaching staff.

“When Tim took over the club in 2006, the development structure had been neglected and had almost become non-existent through a lack of investment for many years.

“His staff has worked tirelessly to ensure that the club is never left in this position again.”