Tuesday, 07 September 2010
NORTHERN Districts Cricket has put in place a number of changes to representative cricket programmes to create a more definable pathway.
The changes, along with a new face in the Bay of Plenty Cricket coaching ranks, aim to ensure more Bay players make the transition to first-class cricket.
Bay of Plenty Cricket general manager David Johnston said while the Black Cap selection of Daniel Flynn, Trent Boult and Kane Williamson in recent seasons had been well documented, another group of youngsters was making its way along the Bay cricket pathway, with first class representation firmly in their sights.
The new ND representative formats would integrate and make transparent the Bay and ND age group pathways.
Johnston said that while the primary age group would remain the same there was a significant change to the representative programme format.
Instead of one five-day tournament, there would be a series of regional matches in November, culminating in a three-day final in Hamilton during December.
Changes had been made to what were the under-15 and -17 age groups, he said.
From the primary ranks the region’s promising youngsters would graduate to the junior secondary school grade, which encompasses year 9 and 10 players.
The next step would be to the senior secondary school ranks for year 11, 12 and 13 players.
The under-19 grade had been replaced by a development competition for the Basil McBurnie Trophy, which would target under-23 players.
Johnston said that while James Pamment would again coach the Bay senior men’s representatives, there was a new face in charge of the high performance and development programmes.
Dave Richardson came to Bay of Plenty Cricket with dual Australian and New Zealand level three coaching qualifications, and an extensive coaching background.
Included in the players Richardson had worked with through his involvement with ND and Hamilton Cricket were Daniel Vettori, Robbie Hart and Scott Styris.
A major part of Richardson’s work with Bay of Plenty Cricket would be putting in place and operating the age group pathways.
The new representative format, and the employment of Richardson as the high-performance coach, should ensure Bay of Plenty Cricket met its goal of becoming the leading minor cricket association in the country, Johnston said.