WORCESTERSHIRE are beginning to reap their re-wards for cultivating a healthy crop of up-and-coming talent.

And that's delighted New Road assistant coach Damian D'Oliveira, who has helped nurture a strong County side which is riding high in the Second Eleven Championship table.

And for Worcestershire officials and supporters that can only be good news for the future at first team level.

"The difficult bit is for them to bridge the gap between second and first team, but hopefully three or four of them will go on and take that step further and make it. Every single one of them has got a chance," said D'Oliveira, who revels in his role as assistant to County coach Bill Athey.

D'Oliveira firmly believes the hard work that has been put in at second eleven level is starting to pay dividends with several young players making encouraging progress.

"We have taken a long time putting together the right sort of age group and the right sort of talent. I'd say probably over the last four years we have sifted out what we didn't think was good enough and got in what we though was good.

"I suppose the average age of the second team would probably be around 20 which is the right age group now. But, to be honest, to pick anyone out would be wrong really because I think they have all got a load of talent. We are just hoping three or four of them actually break through and go on from there. We'll give them all the guidance we can, but at the end of the day it's up to them."

D'Oliveira believes the success of the second eleven this term has been down to overall team efforts rather than outstanding individual performances.

"Nobody in particular has done outstandingly well all of the time. They have all done well at certain times. Ryan Driver, for instance, in the second innings of the match at Bournemouth recently is a good example. We were 69-5 and he opened the innings and got 133 not out. It gave a chance to set a target of 300 plus for them to win the game and our bowlers bowled well. Then at Notts we were 42-8 at tea time and Nathan Batson got 77 not out again allowing us a target to bowl at and again the bowlers did well.

"Jason de la Pena and Bobby Chapman have bowled okay and the spinners have performed well while Chris Liptrot has obviously done well because he was picked for England Under 19s as well."

D'Oliveira feels that those players aged around the 20 mark have another couple of years learning ahead of them, but once they start breaking through is convinced they will be of genuine first team quality.

"I love seeing them come through. I did a sports forum one night and somebody asked me what my ambition would be. I said it would be to pick someone out of a club side, get them to do well in the second team, then in the first team and then for them to get their County cap before hopefully playing for England. That would be my ambition. Whether that will ever happen I don't know, it's difficult to say. You try and give all the guidance you can and all the help you can but eventually it comes down to the player. You try to pick whoever you can that's talented, but talent isn't enough any more. You have got to have talent, the right attitude and you have to have ambition. It's a combination of al those things now.

"When I played in the second team you had overseas players playing. I went to a second eleven coaches meeting in September last year and raised the point that I'd like an overseas player under 23 to play in the second team because I think second eleven players learn more with their eyes than they do with their ears.

"If you bring in a lad from say South Africa or Australia and he does well my comment to any of our young players who might say 'he's a good player isn't he? would be 'well he's the same age as you'.

"I'd prefer an under 23 whose not eligible for the first team, then it's like a learning curve for them and then, of course, there's the chance to set up an exchange system from wherever he comes from. Then it would be possible to send one of our best players there for the winter as well and I think that would provide a good learning curves for both young lads. But I think there's got to be an age limit on it and I think under 23 is probably about right."

A good example of the benefits reaped by the County's second string this season is paceman Liptrot who was an apprentice electrician this time last year. Only recently he performed for England Under 19s against their Australian counterparts.

D'Oliveira said: "He played at the same club as Duncan Catterall who was telling me that Chris was talented. I tried to get him to play around this time last year in the second team, but he was never available. So when we had winter nets I said to Duncan bring him down with you one day. He did and he did quite well and we invited him to pre-season. He suitably impressed again and he's done really well."

D'Oliveira now hopes that Liptrot and others like him will continue to blossom, but stresses on them all that there is no easy way to the top.

"We spend our life saying to these youngsters that there's no easy route. It's all about hard work. If you ever think you have made it the game will jump up and kick you in the teeth. It does happen."

He is also conscious of the needs of players who have dropped into the second eleven after losing their form in the first team.

"I tend to have a little chat with them quietly on my own just to make sure they are in the right frame of mind when they do come back into the second team. You don't have to do it very often, but occasionally you just have to say 'look if you want you first team place back obviously you have got to work hard. There's no easy route. You have got to turn in the goods.'

"We are in a performance related job and if they don't perform they get dropped, left out, sacked or whatever it might be. But here the whole of the playing staff get on really well and team spirit is a major thing in trying to be successful."

Monday, August 16, 1999.