THE future of cricket in Worcestershire is in safe hands.

Former County stalwart Stuart Lampitt -- aided by other members of the Worcestershire Cricket Board (WCB) and hoards of volunteers -- is pulling out all the stops to make sure the sport is as accessible as possible to youngsters.

Since hanging up his boots in 2002, 40-year-old Lampitt has stayed close to the sport he loves and even still works out of New Road -- home to the county he represented for 17 years.

In his role as cricket development manager for the WCB, the former all-rounder focuses on promoting cricket in schools and clubs with the aim of getting as many boys and girls interested in the game.

He also works alongside league clubs in the county and helps them to achieve their Club Mark status -- an ECB initiative aimed at developing safe and welcoming places for youngsters to get involved with cricket.

Lampitt said: "The Worcestershire Cricket Board oversees all cricketing programmes in the county and we want to give kids the opportunity to play cricket and get involved with local clubs.

"It is always rewarding to see youngsters you have worked with go on to represent the County."

"We also work with the clubs to ensure they gain their Club Mark accreditation.

"We look at health and safety and child protection elements and 14 clubs in the county have already achieved the Club Mark.

"The aim is to get as many youngsters playing cricket as possible.

"Then the next step is to get them playing for a club and hopefully into the county age groups.

"With the County, we have boys' teams from under 10s through to under 17s and hopefully they move onto the academy after that.

"We also have girls' teams at under 13, under 15 and under 17 levels.

"It is always rewarding to see youngsters you have worked with go on to represent the County."

Lampitt is delighted to see that Will Gifford, Daryl Mitchell and Steven Davies have all come through the age groups and made it into the Worcestershire first team.

He added: "The likes of Richard Jones, Faisal Shahid, Matt Pardoe and Neil Pinner have also come through the age groups into the academy. We are starting to see the fruits of our hard work

"Following the ECB decision to restrict counties to just one overseas player from 2008, the role of developing youngsters has become even more important.

"I have got a meeting coming up with Steve Rhodes and academy director Damian D'Oliveira to plan what we are going to do for the future to ensure talented youngsters keep coming into the academy."