sponsors Shell, youth cricket is set to re-emerge this weekend.

A total of 23 teams will be involved, with 11 battling for honours among the often troubled Under-17 age group and 12 in the newly established Under-11 bracket. The Under-11 division will play on Friday evenings, starting tomorrow, and the older age group on Saturdays, both limited overs.

And programme coordinator, former Bermuda national squad captain Arnold Manders, yesterday said plans are already afoot to include an Under-14 division next year.

The Bermuda Cricket Board of Control (BCBC) has been much maligned in recent years regarding the lack of a youth division, but Manders said that the new divisions would go a way toward rectifying what has been lost and added that the clubs should shoulder much of the blame for past shortcomings.

"I definitely think it's a step in the right direction, because there hasn't been a youth league for some time. Now we have one and we see there's a dire need for it,'' said Manders, one of the recently elected `new breed' in the BCBC ranks.

"The youngsters will be playing cricket from June 23 to September 2 and we hope to make sure that the programme stays in place for the upcoming years.

"I think the clubs have a lot to bear with the non-existence of a junior league, because if the board couldn't organise one then it's up to the clubs to get together and make sure their youngsters are playing cricket.'' Those comments aside, Manders voiced opinion contrary to those espoused by the hierarchy at several leading institutions that today's youth were simply not interested in a plodding, drawn out game like cricket where one must often toil beneath unrelenting heat.

The fast-paced lifestyle preferred by many was said to be hindering the influx of any sort of new breed and threatened the very existence of the sport.

Not so according to Manders.

"I can't speak for all clubs, but I know at Western Stars Sports Club we have a great number of enthusiastic young cricketers who are all willing, keyed up and ready to play and in the under-11 we have two teams in the league, we could have had a third because we have the numbers, but with guys taking trips in and out of the Island we didn't think it would be right to have three,'' he declared.

"Speaking from my club's point of view we are very enthusiastic and see nothing but goodness coming from the programme.'' Manders added that as long as he is involved there will be continuity with the programme.

The outlook for the Island in terms of future participation at the International Youth Tournament (IYT) also suddenly appears bright with the introduction of a structured programme to enhance youth development and preparation for such competitions.

Still, Manders warned not to expect too much too soon as it would be some time before a desirable standard is reached.

"I don't think that we are going to just go from being at the bottom to the top, it's going to take a few years, but with the young cricketers that I see coming up, if we can keep a structured programme in the following years leading up to the IYT -- not the next one, but the third one -- I can see Bermuda being a force to be reckoned with.

"I think we have a lot of good young cricketers coming up and we have to make sure that there is some structured programme for them to improve their skills and be moving into the first teams and eventually into the national squad.''