CHRIS Park has heaped praise on off-spinner Jigar Naik ahead of Dorset's Minor Counties Championship clash against Wales, which starts tomorrow at Usk (11am).

Naik has been in sublime form in the Western Division, taking 30 wickets in the longer format of the game.

The 32-year-old has claimed a staggering 60 per cent of Dorset’s wickets in the three-day format, with Park admitting his bowling is on a different level to those he has seen in the squad this season.

Asked about Naik's form, Park said: “In the one-day cricket, he would probably hold up his hands and say he wasn’t at his best but that’s early season.

“In the three-day stuff, he has been absolutely brilliant.

“I think he is the leading wicket-taker on the Minor Counties circuit so far and, actually, with the confidence he has with his bowling, it’s now contributed to confidence with the bat.”

Asked where he felt Naik rated with regards to spin bowlers he has seen, Park replied: “Very highly.

“He just bowls a different pace. Having kept wicket to the likes of Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann back in my day, they just bowl quicker.

“You see the international spinners and they bowl quickly. They are not slow bowlers any more and I think that is the big step up really.

“Watching Sam Thomson and Jigar bowl in tandem against Oxfordshire, the pace, the fizz and the spin on the ball was completely different.

“When you have Jigar bowling two-minute overs, every ball is an event and there could be a chance. Things were happening every ball.”

But while Naik’s wickets have been a huge boost, the county captain is looking for the rest of his side to step up against a Wales team that sits bottom of the table.

“As a team from one to 11, we want to contribute,” he added.

“I’d like to see James Hayman, Bradley Currie and Mark Wolstenholme back in the wickets and the likes of Luke Webb, Sam Collins, Gordon Whorlow and Ed Ellis standing up and getting runs at the top of the order.”

Dorset: (from) Collins, Whorlow, Webb, Eckland, Ellis, Park, Naik, Wolstenholme, Digby, Hayman, B Currie, Wilson.