A SUSSEX-produced youngster will become an England regular within the first decade of the new Millennium.

And the £500,000 Blackstone Lane project in Woodmancote, to provide the county's juniors set up with a base, should be ready next year to play its part.

Those are the predictions of Ian Waring, the county development manager who has revolutionised the youth set-up at Hove during his eight years in charge.

Sussex are represented in the current Test series against South Africa by skipper Chris Adams, but Waring wants to see a local hero make good.

He said: "All due respect to Chris as he is a great role model for Sussex youngsters, but he is not a local youngster produced by the system.

"We've had the likes of Tony Pigott, Paul Parker and Alan Wells come through and play one Test for England, but we haven't had a regular since John Snow in the Seventies.

"The ultimate New Year wish for me is to see one of the youngsters we've got now, like Paul Havell, Dominic Clapp or Michael Yardy, or even Robin Martin-Jenkins or James Kirtley, go all the way and establish himself.

"Those in the under-17s squad, who won the national title and are on the verge of pro cricket and keen to prove themselves. We've seen them do well as a squad and we'll see how good they are as individuals in Second XI matches or maybe the odd County Championship game this summer.

"I don't want to pinpoint individuals because it could be one of about 20, which is a good position to be in, but I believe we will produce an England regular who has come all the way though from the current crop."

Waring believes the emergence of Michael Vaughan in Cape Town is an example of what Sussex are trying to achieve.

"He looks very organised with the correct technique and that's down to good levels of coaching. All Test players should have the basics drilled in when they are 15 not 27. You don't hear talk about the poor technique of England's opponents. At Sussex, we are drilling in techniques from as early as possible.

"There will be more emphasis on training and coaching and less on match play from under-tens through to under-13s. They are talented but naive. We will introduce timeouts during games so coaches can advise. It's not about winning at all costs. They've got time to develop the winning instinct the South Africans and Australians show."

The county will also home in on secondary schools.

Waring said: "Our junior school schemes, with the backing of Seeboard, are well in place, so we will be targetting secondary schools for the next ten years. The lottery-funded school-club link-up scheme called Active Sport for kids from ten-13 to be launched next year will eventually help."

Fund-raising for Blackstone Lane will be launched next month and Waring says the project is fundamental to his Millennium blueprint.

He said: "No other county has a home for its juniors, so we'll be the first. It seems crazy that we've had to beg, borrow or steal to find pitches for the youngsters. It will provide a much-needed base for them."

The plans do not include indoor facilities.

But Waring said: "We play too much indoors in this country and it is an artificial environment. Cricket is an outdoor game played on grass. You can count the number of indoor facilities in South Africa on one hand. Yes, they have the climate, but our weather's not too bad from April to September."

Waring's vision is coming together. He said: "When I started there were too many factions, schools, clubs, county and local authorities, but with the Sussex Cricket Board as an umbrella this is all coming together. It's just a question of tidying up.

"It's still not easy. In fact, it's harder work getting kids interested in cricket than I've ever known because there are so many distraction like football which is short, sharp and colourful, while we want Test players. But it's proving far from impossible to win them round.

"On the positive side, the training level of junior squads has never been higher. Our Academy is going very well. It's the same in the rest of the country. England under-15s and under-17s are beating the best in the world.

"We want to help England do that at senior level and I feel we can."

And, remember, Sussex also has rising junior international stars, like Caroline Atkins and Alexia Walker, among the females following in the footsteps of England senior vice-captain Clare Connor.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.