For the second successive year the Western Bay of Plenty Cricket Association is visiting local primary schools with their cricket awareness program.

The major objective of the program is to teach Year One to Four youngsters the very basics of the great game, while giving Year Five and Six students more advanced techniques.

Western Bay of Plenty Cricket co-ordinator Don Warner at Katikati Primary School last year.

Successfully launched last spring by Western Bay of Plenty Cricket co-ordinator Don Warner this year's registrations are set to top 3000 young budding cricket players.

Registrations are currently stretching all the way from Waimata to Pongokawa including Pyes Pa, Tauranga, Mount Maunganui and Te Puke schools.

The basic introductory programme teaches catching, throwing, bowling and how to hit the ball with a bat. With the emphasis on fun and enjoyment the sessions finish with some skill games, which always produce a heap of laughter.

Year Five and Six participants focus on the skills required to be a competent player, such as the pull shot everyone likes to have a go at, along with the two basics of driving the ball and forward defence shots.

The correct grip for seam and spin bowling also figures predominantly in the individual session's instruction.

The WBOPCA Cricket Awareness programme is an introduction for both young boys and girls to precede the NZ Cricket Have a Go programme and a taste of Saturday morning junior cricket starting in October.

This year Don Warner has been joined in the delivery of the program by Jason White who has coached junior cricket for a number of years. The programme will run to the end of the school term on September 27 with a very limited number of school spots still on offer.