Thakor thriving in switch to three

Notts v Derbyshire

June 2-5, Trent Bridge Nottingham, 11:00

SHIV Thakor believes that he is finally ready to thrive at No.3 for Derbyshire as he looks to back up a first century of the campaign against Division Two leaders Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge today.

Thakor made 132 in his side’s high-scoring draw with Leicestershire last time out, a maiden ton since being entrusted with a move up the order by director of cricket Kim Barnett and skipper Billy Godleman.

Godleman and former Surrey wicketkeeper Gary Wilson have been the stars of the Derbyshire batting line-up this term but now that he is comfortable at three, their 23-year-old teammate is keen to contribute on a more consistent basis

“It’s been nice to be up there and have a bit more responsibility,” said Thakor.

“I saw an opportunity to put my hand up and say ‘I would love to have the chance’ and I was lucky in that Billy and Kim backed me to do that.

“Billy made it clear to me that he backs me to do it and I’ve got his full support.

“It meant a lot for the club to give me the opportunity to move up, so it’s nice to be able to repay them.

“It’s disappointing I haven’t scored as many runs as I would like so it’s encouraging to have converted one of the starts I’ve had.”

Notts are top of the pile with four wins and one draw from five matches, but assistant coach Paul Franks will only allow his side to focus on the short-term, not dream of an unbeaten summer.

“The players have got no choice.We don’t give them room to think otherwise,” said Franks.

“We’ve got evidence that shows them this approach works.

“No-one is good enough to take their eye off the ball – the minute we do that we come unstuck.”