The Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB) will give youth its chance this summer, by centrally contracting several of the Islands bright young stars.

A new development programme aimed at the younger members of the national training squad will be used to give those selected a higher level of training than they otherwise might get.

The idea is to immerse the players in cricket, not just the practical side of the game, but its tactics, its philosphies and its lore.

Rodney Trott and Tamauri Tucker are the first two players to have been brought into the new programme and it is hoped that the likes of Stefan Kelly, Steven Outerbridge and Jekon Edness will soon follow.

"We are trying our best to get the players to a level of awareness not only of themselves, but of their own skill levels," said Gus Logie, the national coach.

"We want the younger members of the squad, the ones who may not be employed, to come on board and really and truly have them in the fold so we can build a certain kind of rapport with them as well as an understanding.

"If we really want them to perform at the highest level, then we have to prepare them as best as possible.

"I think in the past we have done that with some of the more senior players and to be quite honest it hasn't worked as well as we would have liked.

"Those players still had responsibilities outside of cricket, even though we had them on full-time contracts.

"I think with the younger ones we looked at it carefully and we feel that this is the right thing to do at this moment in time.

"We are hoping to have some more players coming on board., School is going to be out in England, so the likes of Jekon Edness, Stefan Kelly, and Steve Outerbridge will be back on the Island, and we are hoping to also have them on board with the training programme."

The first stage of the programme will run from now until September, after which, the Board will consider renewing their contracts.

During that time the players involved will have an intensive training schedule which includes working in the nets, classroom sessions, target bowling, fielding drills, batting drills, playing spin and video sessions.

In addition, the players will have daily gym sessions where they will be required to follow a specifically designed fitness programme.

The group has been set fitness targets and goals which must be reached and maintained. Psychological testing will be provided and players will be drug tested regularly.

The programme has been endorsed by the ICC High Performance Manager, Richard Done who has encouraged the BCB to intensify the training in the run up to the ICC World Cup Qualifiers in March, 2009.

"Its good news to see the BCB putting resources into developing players for the future," he said.

"The success of all the top Associate countries depends on making the most of their available talent as we head into the next ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier in the UAE in 12 months time.

"Targeting the best players for more intensive coaching at the same time as providing them with an opportunity to earn an income by putting back into junior development is a smart way of using BCB resources.

"Programmes like this can only lead to better standards for the Bermuda Team."