The Cricket Development Department at Trent Bridge are preparing tolink up with primary schools across the county, helping childrenimprove their generic skills - movement, balance, speed and agility -before they start to teach specific cricket techniques.

Said Notts Cricket Development Officer Eddie Burke: "The generic skillsare key ingredients for good cricketers and if they are not developedat a young age, they will never be recaptured in the same way.

"The objective is to give them a flying start and our coaches will begoing into schools with a variety of equipment, including hoops,ladders and balls of various shapes and sizes - all designed to helpdevelop generic movement and lateral skills through play.

"If children don't have those core skills in place by the ages ofsix-nine for boys and six-eight for girls, it becomes much moredifficult for them to play well at a later age.

"These are the fundamental stages of Long Term Athlete Development. Butif they are established at this age they will have the building blocksto go on and become skilled cricketers."

The Development Department will also be talent spotting during theirthree visits to each school, inviting the most agile children to TrentBridge for further training and games sessions.

Eddie added: "Hopefully, in the long-term, we will strengthen ourcounty squads at the younger age groups, because the players willalready have the basic agility and co-ordination needed to besuccessful."

The scheme, which will only be available to schools that have linkswith the 21 Focus Clubs within Notts, is an extension to the existingcommunity programme and meets with the requirements of the ECB nationalstrategy in terms of visits to schools.

It will be launched in September across 50 primary schools and willincrease the number of visits made to each of them from four to seven.There will be lessons for Years 2 and 3 until Christmas, and sessionsfor Years 5 and 6 in the New Year through until June 2006.