Shivsinh Jaysinh Thakor (born 22 October 1993) is an English

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who most recently played for

Derbyshire County Cricket Club Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Derbyshire. Its limited overs team is called the Derbyshire Falco ...

. A right-handed batsman and occasional right-arm medium-pace bowler, he previously played for

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, making his First-class debut in April 2011 as a 17-year-old against

Loughborough MCCU Loughborough MCC University (previously known as Loughborough University Centre of Cricketing Excellence) is a cricket coaching centre based at Loughborough University in Loughborough, Leicestershire, England, and the name under which the universi ...

, where he became the youngest Leicestershire player to score a century.

Early life

Thakor was born in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

to parents from

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and educated at

Loughborough Grammar School Loughborough Grammar School is a 10–18 Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boys' school in the town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England, founded in 1495 with money left in the will of Thomas Burton (merchant), Thomas Burton. To ...

then

Uppingham School Uppingham School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils 13–18) in Uppingham, Rutland, England, founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson, the Archdeacon of Leicester, who also established Oakham School. ...

, where he excelled at cricket. He is now a free agent having been found guilty of exposing himself to two women without consent.

Playing career

Leicestershire

Thakor signed a three-year deal with

as a 17-year-old, in November 2010. In March 2011, Thakor won the Young Sports Personality of the Year at the 10th annual British Asian Sports Awards ceremony. Thakor has often been hailed as the

British Asian British Asians (also referred to as Asian Britons) are British people of Asian people, Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with a population of 5.76 million people or 8.6 ...

community's next great cricketing hope and has drawn comparisons with greats like

Viv Richards Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards (born 7 March 1952) is a retired Antiguan cricketer who represented the West Indies cricket team between 1974 and 1991. Usually batting at number three in a dominant West Indies side, Richards is widely ...

Marcus Trescothick Marcus Edward Trescothick (born 25 December 1975) is an English former cricketer who played first-class cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club, and represented England cricket team, England in 76 Test cricket, Test matches and 123 One Day In ...

and his idol

Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who List of India national cricket captains#Men's cricket, captained the Indian national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketer ...

. Thakor made his first-class debut for Leicestershire in a university match against

Grace Road Grace Road, known for sponsorship reasons as the Uptonsteel County Ground, Grace Road, is a cricket ground in Leicester, England. It is the home ground and administrative base of Leicestershire County Cricket Club. History Leicestershire ...

in April 2011. In the first and only innings he came to the crease with Leicestershire at 63–4, and he and teammate

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the single "Fi ...

put on a Leicestershire fifth-wicket record partnership of 330. Thakor scored 134 on his first-class debut, becoming Leicestershire's youngest centurion as well as the first Leicestershire born batsman to make a century on debut. Thakor was quick to acknowledge James Taylor's calming effect upon reaching his century. Four days after his debut, Thakor was called up for his

List A List A cricket is a classification of the Limited overs cricket, limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competit ...

against

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

. Thakor scored 13, coming in at number six in a seven-wicket loss for Leicestershire. The following day he followed up his debut with a one-day match against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Thakor came in at number five and scored 13, which included a six as Leicestershire recorded a 32-run victory. His next taste of first-class cricket came on 2 August 2011 as he was selected to play against

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

in a drawn match at

. Thakor scored 10 in his first innings, as Leicestershire were bowled out for 257. In his second innings, he scored 34 in 100 balls, to help Leicestershire towards a healthy total.

Derbyshire

In 2015 Thakor signed for

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, and was selected for the opening game of the season vs

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, taking 2-28 including the wicket of

Ashwell Prince Ashwell Gavin Prince (born 28 May 1977) is a former South African cricketer and captain who played all formats of the game for South Africa. At the age of 29, he became the first non-white man to captain the South African cricket team when he st ...

Youth international cricket

Thakor has represented England at under-15, under-17 and under-19 levels. He was also selected to captain England under-17 in a triangular series against Scotland and Ireland. Thakor played in the under-19 series against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

in January 2011. He participated in a four-day youth Test match in which he scored 47 from 123 balls in a drawn match at the

Galle International Stadium Galle International Stadium (, ) is a cricket stadium in Galle, Sri Lanka, situated near Galle Fort and fringed on two sides by the Indian Ocean. It is considered to be one of the most picturesque cricket grounds in the world. Before being br ...

. In the second test he scored 13 and 44 in another drawn match. Thakor underperformed in the one day series, top scoring with just 18 in a disappointing 1–3 defeat for England in the series. In December 2012, Thakor was named the captain of the England under-19 team for their tour of South Africa in January 2013, where they would play two four-day Tests and five one-day internationals. However, he was ruled out of the tour after sustaining a broken finger in the opening match of the trip against Western Cape Invitation XI.

Personal life

In June 2017, Thakor was suspended by Derbyshire after allegations of indecent exposure towards two female estate agents. Thakor was being shown around a new house when it is alleged he "catastrophically misread the signals and was found in a bedroom in a state of undress." During police interview, Thakor stated that he had already been "sexually satisfied" by his "16-year-old girlfriend" so he would not have committed the offences. He was subsequently arrested and found guilty in relation to the alleged incident. On 21 November 2017 his contract with Derbyshire County Cricket Club was terminated. At his sentencing he was placed on the sex offenders register for 5 years and was also given a three-year community order and ordered to pay over £1,000 in costs.

References

External links

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Shiv Thakor Leicestershire County Cricket Club Profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thakor, Shiv English cricketers Leicestershire cricketers Living people Cricketers from Leicester 1993 births People educated at Loughborough Grammar School People educated at Uppingham School British Asian cricketers Derbyshire cricketers English people of Indian descent Sportspeople of Indian descent English people of Gujarati descent Gujarati sportspeople Lincolnshire cricketers