The 2013 domestic campaign may have barely finished but such has been the growth of cricket in Ireland in the past few years that there is almost no time for a close season these days. Regions are already well into their winter development plans at this point and it is no different in our corner where all sorts of programmes and opportunities are currently being explored. Such is the extent of the whole development picture that it would be impossible to deal with in one go so this is the first of two features on the work that is ongoing in the North West at present.

Union President, Andrew Fleming, has been an advocate of revamping the whole issue of development since he took over in the hot seat but the St Johnston man has had a real eye-opener since work started in earnest. "To be honest I knew that we desperately needed to re-structure our existing development model but the sheer scale of it took me a little by surprise. Our development committee, set up as a result of the Think Tank seemed to have been lumbered with much of the work that no-one else wanted and we're only now just starting to unravel what needed to be done".

"At the outset I must say that our CDO, Brian Allen, has been putting in a tremendous amount of work therefore the first priority was to provide Brian with a proper support infrastructure. He was heavily involved in the very successful Legenderry festival of cricket this summer and we felt it was essential to ensure that he was given the tools to keep that momentum. There was no point in Brian going into schools all over the North West looking to attract new young players to clubs if we weren't providing the proper channels for them when they got there".

"Brian has set his sights on a number of schools incentives over the next couple of years starting with Kwik cricket competitions but developing very quickly into more club orientated activities. There is little to be gained from one-off tournaments where kids then go back to football, rugby or GAA so we are looking at ways of bringing more of them into our sport on a permanent basis".

It is widely believed at this stage then that the new North West development plans will see the programme split into two categories- Regional Development Squads (RDS) and the Warriors/Young Warriors Academy.

The RDS are likely, in time, to feature under 11's, under 13's, under 15's under 17's and ladies and going forward, the Union President had a clear picture of where he wanted to go. "Ideally I believe we need a Director of Coaching who will oversee the whole programme. The Director will naturally be linked into the Warriors set-up given that the route of progression will hopefully be from RDS to Interprovincial level.

"After the Director we will have a manager whose job it will be to co-ordinate the coaching and organise sessions. Below that we will need a head coach in each of the categories who will feed into the Director and the next line will be the batting and bowling coaches working directly with the groups. All of the coaching staff will assist in selecting youngsters on merit into the RDS. From there it should be a feed-in process where young players progress from squad to squad and eventually into the young Warriors or "emerging" squads. We are also very keen to put the work into the ladies' game because that hasn't received anything like the necessary attention it requires".

"Realistically of course this is something we need everyone to buy into, especially the clubs. Obviously there is an over-riding cost issue that may dictate how quickly we can achieve all of our goals but we need to make tough decisions now in order to make this work. It will mean all of us digging a little deeper and our Finance Committee working that bit harder but if we are serious about progress then it needs to be done"

One of the big talking points has been the fact that the North West has plenty of players who have either reached, or are heading towards the end of their playing careers and that they may have plenty to offer the region in terms of coaching. Andrew insisted that this was very much part of the plan going forward and agreed that it was an avenue he was very keen to explore.

"I had this discussion with Bobby Rao recently and we both agree that there are several quality players that we would like to see involved with our youngsters. It would be an absolute shame to just lose all that experience from the local game and we are hoping we may be able to avail of their help. There was an article on our website recently detailing forthcoming coaching skills opportunities and we really hope that our senior players might commit some of their time to the cause".

As for the time-scale the President refused to be drawn suggesting that that would be dictated by how quickly we could get the co-operation of all parties. "Some of the Warriors and emerging players sessions have already started however the RDS issue is a real priority for us. I would hope to have a clearer picture for delegates at our General Meeting next week at which I would like to get the backing of the clubs and put the wheels in motion as soon as possible after that".

The main aim of all of this of course is to eventually provide the North West Warriors with their future generations of players while ensuring a healthy level of professionalism in club cricket. The Union has prioritised the setting up of an "emerging panel" of players, or Young Warriors, with a view to extending the options available to Bobby Rao and his team. The former Indian Test player remains fully committed to his Interprovincial commitments and is working tirelessly with the development committees to ensure that everything that can be done is being done.

We will look at the Warriors' plans in more detail next time.