Jigar Naik appointed as Head of Talent Pathway

Leicestershire CCC is delighted to announce Jigar Naik has been appointed as Head of Talent Pathway at Uptonsteel County Ground.

Naik, who has held the roles of Lead Spin Bowling Coach and Pathways Performance Coach since his return to the Club in January 2019, will take over the position from Alastair Maiden, who joined Yorkshire CCC at the beginning of the month.

Naik will oversee the development of Academy scholars and all boys’ age group cricket, which help produce players to transition into second XI cricket and, ultimately, the Running Foxes’ First Team.

The role will facilitate the Club’s established development objectives, which aim to ensure that homegrown players feature as a core part of the First XI and the average number of Academy graduate debutants increases over the coming years.

Speaking about his appointment, Naik said: “After being at Leicestershire firstly as a junior, then as a player, and then as a coach, it’s a huge honour to take up this next opportunity.
“We’ve got strong methods in place and I’ve got a brilliant team with me. The likes of Paul Johnson, Dave Whitmore and Phil DeFreitas will support me massively and are vital cogs to the team.
“We’ve got an exciting crop of players coming through, so I’m looking forward to bringing the best out of them and continuing the Club’s rich history of producing not just Leicestershire cricketers but England cricketers too.”

Naik has already helped develop recent Academy graduates, including Alex Evans, Sam Bates and Rehan Ahmed, who has gone to represent England at under-19 level, including as they reached the 2022 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup final over the winter.

Alongside his recent coaching positions, the 37-year-old enjoyed a successful decade-long playing career with Leicestershire following his debut against West Indies A in 2006.

After becoming the first Leicester-born Asian to represent the Club in first-class cricket, Naik took 242 wickets and scored more than 2,000 runs across all formats and received his prestigious county cap in 2013.

That honour followed a prosperous few years for the off-spinner. In 2009, Naik scored his memorable maiden first-class century against Derbyshire in a game-saving stand with James Taylor. The duo set an all-time club record for the eighth wicket in the process.

A superb 2010 campaign followed, where Naik finished atop of the national bowling averages after claiming 35 first-class wickets at an average of 17.59.

He then finished as Leicestershire’s leading first-class wicket-taker in 2011, alongside being part of the squad that won an unrivalled third T20 title later that summer. Naik was rewarded for his efforts by being named as one of the ECB’s Potential England Performance Programme players.