While international events have pre-occupied New Zealand Cricket's chief executive Martin Snedden for the last three days, he presented a firm view of where he sees the sport going here over the next few years when addressing NZC's annual meeting at Lincoln University today.

Fittingly, the meeting was held at the pavilion built last year on the boundary of the Bert Sutcliffe Oval, the centrepiece of NZC's High Performance Centre at the University.

"It's been a busy 45 days since I took up this position, it's been a very busy last 45 hours and I thank those who have provided support in making that decision [to call the national teams home from Singapore, en route to Pakistan, and India]," he said.

Reviewing the season, he said the CLEAR Black Caps had an amazing season and one that indicated how much sport could go up and down in a short time.

"The win of the ICC KnockOut trophy was under-rated in New Zealand and I don't think people realise just how well they did in that tournament," he said.

The downside to that success had been the problems in South Africa and the poor cricket played when returning home.

"But they picked themselves up off the floor and won the one-day series against Pakistan and then had that fine Test win in Hamilton," he said.

The side had been plagued by a horrific run of injuries.

But Snedden admitted to being frustrated at the inconsistency of the team.

"They are talented, they do produce some outstanding performances from time to time.

"If they could do it consistently, it would make watching cricket much easier during the summer," he said.

Snedden paid tribute to the contribution former coach David Trist had made to the side, not only in seeing it win the ICC KnockOut but also the memorable home series against the West Indies in the previous summer.

The CLEAR White Ferns' success in winning the CricInfo Women's World Cup also drew praise from Snedden.

"What a terrific final. It was the best possible finale to such a well-organised tournament.

"The last hour of the game was probably the most gripping hour of cricket in the whole season and what made it so outstanding was that it was a team contribution to the win," he said.

That had been borne out in the fact that two pieces of fielding brilliance had turned the match in New Zealand's favour.

"Our challenge is to build on that, not only at international level but also at school, club and association level," he said.

Snedden said it was fantastic timing that NZC was able to honour Bert Sutcliffe with the naming of the Bert Sutcliffe Oval at Lincoln University so soon before his death.

"He was an absolute inspiration for so many of us getting involved in cricket," he said.

In recent weeks Snedden said he had been part of a road show visiting the six Major Associations to present information on the grassroots development initiatives being planned by cricket.

"It is such an important part of our future to get this absolutely right in addressing the problem at grassroots level.

"This is going to make a major difference. Over three or four years we're going to see that level of cricket becomes much more vital and healthy. The board is dedicated to making sure that does happen," he said.

Snedden said it had become more obvious to him since taking up his new position that not only should NZC be strong and healthy, but each of the major associations needed to be strong and healthy.

There had been a lot of changes in New Zealand cricket since the implementation of the Hood Report and, while other issues were addressed, not enough time had been spent on the major associations and domestic cricket but both would now have the full focus of the board of NZC.

The quality of domestic cricket had deteriorated but there would be changes to that and an emphasis would be put on improving standards.

"We have to rebuild the value of that area of New Zealand cricket," he said.

Looking to the new season, Snedden said another world event was to be hosted with the Under-19 World Cup which would be centred at the High Performance Centre at Lincoln.

"People probably don't realise how important this tournament is in terms of world cricket," he said.

The International Cricket Council rated it among its top four tournaments and ahead of the women's World Cup.

"We're going to have a terrific event here and the standard of cricket will be extremely high. It will be a highlight of the coming season," he said.

Snedden paid tribute to his predecessor as chief executive Christopher Doig.

"When he came in NZC was definitely in need of a boost and he did give cricket a boost and shoved it in the right direction.

"He did so much, so well, and we have come a long way.

"I looked at the Hood Report earlier this week and it was sobering to see the state we were in six years ago. We have done a lot. But the 1998 follow up Hood Report was also sobering because we still have a lot to do.

"Perhaps in another three to four years we will be in a position we couldn't have contemplated 10 years ago," he said.

© CricInfo