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Youth are the foundation of our cricket and in order to secure the future the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has been focussing on youth development with regional associations concentrating more time and resources in that area.

West Indians understand all too well the reasons for this initiative. Cricket today is a different game from the one that we knew in the past and does not seem to come as naturally to youngsters as it used to. We now have to go out and actively search for new players.

In Barbados, the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) is expanding and intensifying its initiative to train young players and the response has been very encouraging.

The BCA is expanding its programme among young cricketers in the Under-13, Under-15 and Under-19 categories and has also launched a new programme among the Under-17 age group.

The three original programmes will retain their sponsorship from private sector partners (Banks, BET and CIBC) while sponsors are still being sought for the Under-17 programme.

The BCA is extremely grateful for the sponsorship, especially considering that some sponsors have given their support continuously for periods in excess of 20 years. Without the sponsorship, the programme would hardly survive.

Players are selected from the previous year's competition and each group starts with 70 young cricketers before the number is eventually reduced to 30.

Starting this year, the training period has been extended from January through May, when the national season starts. In the past young cricketers benefited from this training only during January.

Practice sessions are held on Saturday mornings , as long as there is no regional or international cricket being played, and on Wednesdays from 3:30 - 6 p.m. Training sessions intensify during the Easter and summer vacations when there is in-depth training for each group for a period of up to 12 days.

After Easter, preparations start in earnest for the Under-15 and Under-19 regional competitions. This year the Under-19 Nortel competition will be played in Barbados in July while the Under-15 Carib Cement tournament will be played in Guyana.

To qualify for these training sessions, the players must be within the specific age group on September 1 of the current year. A boy whose 15th birthday falls on September 1 is ineligible to play Under-15 and must play Under-17.

One particular advantage to the young players admitted to these sessions is the quality of the coaching being offered. Coaching for the Under-13s, playing at Banks, is under the direction of Sir Everton Weekes, carried out with the assistance of Sylvan Stoute, Adrian King and Dennis Osbourne.

The Under-15s play at the Police Sports Complex under the direction of Anthony Headley, assisted by Henderson Springer and George Linton.

The older players benefit from equally qualified mentors. Pedro Hinds is in charge of the Under-17s, with the help of Clifton Phillips and Milton Small. Under-19s work with the master, Sir Garfield Sobers, more than ably assisted by Darnley Boxill, Ezra Moseley, Alvin Greenidge and Richard Straker.

This centralised coaching has sometimes created difficulties for young players who live in the rural areas, particularly on Wednesdays during the school term. By the year 2000, however, the BCA intends to have a North zone and a South zone in place.

This change will have two major effects. It will reduce the transportation problems the players now face and it will double the number of places available in the programme.

Plans for the year 2001 include the creation of a Central Zone and the establishment of an Under-21 coaching session. As a result of these changes, there will be five training sessions in each of three zones, each accommodating 70 young players. This will see Barbados providing training for up to 1050 young players each year.

The BCA's Cricket Committee, which deals specifically with the development of the game, has also been putting the necessary infrastructure in place. Meetings have been held with the National Sports Council and there are plans to meet with the Ministry of Education in an effort to get cricket on the curriculum of all primary and secondary schools. Meetings are scheduled too with the Ministry of Sports.

From there the Cricket Committee hopes to meet at the earliest opportunity with First Division teams in an effort to encourage nurseries and youth cricket arms at each ground.

A lot of work is involved in the current initiative but it is obvious to every cricket lover why these measures are necessary. While every effort must be made to rebuild the current West Indies team, those efforts would be short-lived unless at the same time we also work on the team of the future.

Keith Simmons is a vice-president of the Barbados Cricket Association and the Chairman of its Cricket Committee.