Established in 1884 and therefore one of the oldest clubs in the country, Hermes DVS Sschiedam might almost stand as a symbol of the issues facing the sport in the Netherlands. It remains a large and succesful organisation, and yet it has consistently fallen just short in pursuing championshiops honours.

The men"s first eleven has played in the top flight every year since 1991, and yet it has generally played second fiddle to neighbours-and great rivals-Excelsior"20. Hermes won the second of their national championships as long ago as 1946, and the women"s side , despite supplying the lionesses" share of the national squad, has never taken the title.

Some of this failure to reach absolute pinnacle may be due to a policy of developing the club"s own resources, rather then looking beyond the gates of Sportpark Harga for quick success.

Cub chairman John Beijer is proud of that largely home-grown quality: "Our first team, he observes, is one of the few at the top level which has ten players raised in our own youth.

"And our youth committee is working very hard at present to bring junior section back to the level we were on a couple of years ago"

Beijer says that Hermes"main aim is to be consistently a topclub in men"s, women"s and youth cricket, and to give room for and attention to recreatinal cricket as well. Last season they fielded five men"s sides each weekend, including one in the Sunday recreatinal league and one in the veterans competition, and they were the only club with two women"s teams.

Those plans for the future also include the development of a turf square, with 2014 as the target date.

Like the many other Dutch clubs which combine cricket with footbal, Hermes relies upon a strong relationship with the football section.

"For our youth section to thrive,"Beijer says,"we need good co-operatin with the footballers, because the development of good cricketers must be based on strong numbers, with plenty of players in each age group. But it also takes a coach who understands young people, and Dutch young people in particular'."

Coaching is also an important element, Beijer believes, in enabling the women"s first team to claim thet elusive natinal title.

"Women"s cricket is developing very quickly at Hermes, "he says, but we can still make some big steps forward. Professional training and coaching with strengthen the process, but the women will also be more involved in playing in men"s teams on sundays."

The women"s section made a distinctive contribution to the club"s celebration of its 125th anniversary last year, with its glamarous calendar and a very succesful Ladies Day promotional event, and it"s clear that Beijer"s is very appreciative of what they achieved.

"Having such an enthousiastic group stimulates the club culture, " he says approvingly, and we"re keen to be a lively club with a good variety of events, so that it will be attactive for all kinds of people to join us. Our credo is "Let"s make some noise!"

And that"s an approach which he believes is also required at national level.

"With the introduction of overseas coaches and players Dutch cricket has become more professional, "he observes. "That"s a natural development , and it can"t be stopped.

"But along with that, we have to make cricket more populair, because without increasing popularity we can"t really develop into a really professional, grown-up sport. The Twenty20 format helps with that, but it"s also a key challeng fot the KNCB to create a stucture for recreational cricket which brings the fun back into the game."

Beijer emphasises that his club is a strong supporter of the structural changes which are being implemented at the top level of Dutch domestic cricket, and he welcomes the proposal to introduce a second phase in the topklasse and Hoofdklasse competitions.

"We were initially concerned that reducing each divisions to eight teams would mean fewer games."he says, and we weren"t happy about that. A mature competition means cricket from the beginning of May till the end of September.

"So it"s a relief that that teams will be playing a minimum of seventeen matches under the new set-up."

Returning to the issue of spreading the sports, Beijer offers an inspiring vision which one hears seldom from club officials.

"Hermes DVS Cricket wants to transfer love fot the game and its values to other people, in - and outside the club, "he declares, "so that people can develop themselves in areas of respect, honesty, powers of concentration , co-operation and being target oriented.

"These are qualities which are not only useful in sport, but also in your personal daily life, and it"s our task to spread that word more widely, in Schiedam and across the country."