As the cricket season approaches there have been some very interesting transfers, but the one that excites me the most is seeing my long-time friend Dean Minors finally return home to his boyhood club, St.George's.

Dean and I have been friends all of our lives but approximately ten years ago our cricket careers took separate paths, but this year will mark the long-awaited reunion at home playing where we belong.

To actually play with Dean again will be a sensational way to finish off my playing career.

I get goose bumps just thinking about it and I have not been this enthused about playing cricket in a long time.

St.George's, we may have gone, but we are back and you can stand on the promise that the days of yesteryear will return through mentoring your upcoming stars.

So fans, as Dean would say, "Get the drums and music instruments ready because we plan on bringing the good old days back when we had sing alongs after every game."

This is a boyhood story that started at the age of maybe five when Dean and I first met.

Since that day if you ever wanted to find either one of us all you had to do was take a look up at St.George's Cricket Club field.

If it was the football season we would be playing until it was dark and if it was the cricket season we would be playing until it was dark, a passion, a love that we developed for both sports at an early age.

Sometimes when we sit and reminisce about the old days one thing that stands out in my mind is hearing Dean's mom shout out, "Dean come get your supper". And Dean would reply, "OK mom as soon as I get Clay out".

It was practically 25 years ago that Dean and I started our careers in St.George's. Introduced as two talented kids with great ambition to succeed we were drilled daily and pushed by Wendell Smith to improve our skills.

As we were nursed into the senior team we gradually secured our spot by our performances. Being groomed in a team with players that had so much character and enthusiasm left us with no other choice but to be tough and get the job done.

At an early age although we were best friends, we had our own ambitions, and never let that stand in the way of our friendship.

Dean at 17 opted to play for Bermuda at the International Youth Tournament, when in the same year I opted to stay home and try out for Cup Match.

The next ten years we would give our heart and soul to St.George's Cricket Club, proudly enjoying the numerous trophies we won.

To feel the atmosphere of the St. George's Cricket Club back then was incredible, the feeling and vibe that the fans brought after each victory was phenomenal.

To see the fans playing a variety of instruments often produced by Randy Denbrook and everybody singing our St. George's songs gave a memorable, warm, family, and community feeling.

Becoming restless for a new challenge I decided to focus on coaching at St. David's who at the time were a mid-table team. Dean on the other hand decided to stay home and coached St.George's.

A year or two later I convinced Dean to come to St. David's as I knew he was the missing link to the puzzle at the time.

In Dean's first year playing with St. David's the team went undefeated, winning every game and every trophy.

After a few seasons with St. David's we both sought the ultimate challenge of trying to find a smaller club to impart our knowledge into their programme.

The aim was to put a solid programme in place that would benefit the future of the club, where they would be respected and be able to hold their own in the Premier Division.

As a result, Dean went to Flatts and I went to Cleveland. The pinnacle for Dean was half way through the season he had his Flatts' team in the top two in the league, but they would not be able to sustain that and finished low in the standings.

The highlight for me at Cleveland was taking them from First Division to their first Belco Cup with Cleveland finishing fourth in the Premier League.

We then bowled St.David's out for a mere 150 in the Eastern Counties only to lose, but it was the electrifying atmosphere that was produced, one that hadn't been seen in Eastern Counties for a long time.

Now the circle has gone a complete spin and we are back at St. George's Cricket Club, the place we both call home.

While we would love to bring back the glory days of winning trophies, that is not necessarily our main objective.

Our focus is the youth and molding them, giving them the knowledge and experience that was once given to us.

St. George's has an abundance of young talent in CJ Marshall, Dage Minors, Zico Burgess, Jonte' Smith, Christian Burgess, M'kai Hodsoll, Mackai Simmons and Akeem Trott, just to name a few.

That's why it is important to have players like Dean in your programme who can talk to the players, help them to understand their strengths and weaknesses and guide them through their rough spots.

We want to develop a family closeness where players can feel comfortable and build a trust among each other.

This year I will be looking to introduce some new things to the young players to help them in their future, such as one-on-one interviews enabling them to respond to the press, assisting them in speaking in public forums. Cricket for me is more than just a sport. It is a tool that we can use to help build confidence and empower our kids.

In closing, while Dean and I are back together it doesn't change my focus for the club and that is to build a young team for the future who are tactically and technically sound.

All it means is that you have two grandpas around to give the youngsters guidance when it is needed.

Motto for the week: "Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships." – Michael Jordan