A bushfire is burning through the lower age groups of New Zealand cricket and apart from tapping a vast reservoir of support for the game, it is providing a foundation of great significance for the future of the game here.

While many sports struggle with how to improve their numbers, how to get parental involvement and how to get coaches for their sport, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) national development manager Alec Astle has master-minded a scheme which has an outstanding hooking rate.

Not only is the MILO-sponsored scheme attracting school children to cricket, it is providing an easily workable coaching scheme for parents.

Typical of many examples happening around the country as development managers start to make their marks within the six respective domestic associations in New Zealand is the Manawatu town of Feilding.

With a population of 14,000 it has 180 children working with 36 trained coaches two times a week.

Other areas are reporting similar interest. The Upper Hutt city area has 260 children involved in a programme, while Masterton has 150 and Blenheim 125.

Hunterville, a small town on State Highway One in the Manawatu, has 49 children in its programme and Kurow in North Otago has 35.

They are similar to small towns and hamlets all around the country. The development officers are finding a ready response wherever they visit.

Sponsored by MILO, the scheme started in September 1999. By December 1999 the first development officers had been trained in Northern Districts. Auckland and Canterbury followed them by the start of 2000.

Then over the winter Wellington, Central Districts and Otago started their work.

The scheme started out with Astle and six development officers. Now there are between 60 and 70 coaches involved in the programme.

"Kiwi Cricket is fun but if children want to be competitive in their cricket they have to know how to play the game.

"When they know how to play, they will enjoy it more," Astle said.

"The Associations have been so pleased with the results they have leapt to where I wanted to be five years down the track," he said.

Under the player pathway, the Have-a-go phase is aimed at 6-8-year-olds with the emphasis on fun, taking part and learning cricket's essential skills.

The next phase is Kiwi cricket and brings in elementary competition for 7-10-year-olds. The fun, participation and education with plastic equipment is still the key element.

Junior cricket then introduces 9-13-year-old players to hard ball cricket. Skill development and developing knowledge of the areas of tactical awareness, scoring and umpiring are brought in at this phase.

Opportunities for players who want to develop through greater coaching, tougher competition and representative play are introduced at this stage.

Steps four and five are for the advancement to youth and adult cricket.

The real plus in the MILO scheme is the Coach pathway.

Previously, coaches had to complete a Level One coaching paper to be involved.

Not now.

A simple two-hour course with no exams is all that is involved for the first stage. It is for learning how to organise and run a series of activity sessions including a pre-scripted series of activity sessions, skills drills and games.

The next phase is another two-hour, non-examination course for parents, teachers or volunteers who organise Kiwi cricket. Coaches learn how to run a game of Kiwi Cricket, to umpire, score and reinforce skills.

For coaches looking after primary, intermediate or secondary school students, the third phase is about how and what to coach a team playing the conventional 11-a-side game.

It is this aspect, which has been one of the winners with the programme, as it allows parental, and teacher, involvement without an excessive commitment of time, a vital asset in modern society.

If coaches want to go further, and that is a goal of the programme, they are then able to move into the three NZC levels for coaching. All require exams. The first takes 15-18 hours, the second 25 hours and the third, upon invitation for 40-50 hours.

Merit awards all along the pathway back recognition of the advancement of players and coaches.

Astle has been overwhelmed with support for the scheme but made the point, it was not trying to take the place of volunteers but to work with them.

© CricInfo