Established in 1884 and therefore one of the oldest cricket clubs in the country, Hermes-DVS Schiedam might almost stand as a symbol of the issues facing the sport in The Netherlands. It remains a large and successful organisation, and yet it has consistently fallen just short in pursuing championship 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 two 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 the absolute pinnacle may be due to a policy of developing the club�s own resources, rather than looking beyond the gates of Sportpark Harga for quick success.

Club 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 the 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 top club in men�s, women�s and youth cricket, and to give room for and attention to recreational cricket as well. Last season they fielded five men�s sides each weekend, including one in the Sunday recreational league and one in the veterans� competition, and they were the only club in the country 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 football, Hermes relies upon a strong relationship with the football section.

�For our youth section to thrive,� Beijer says, �we need good co-operation 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 that elusive national 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 glamorous calendar and a very successful Ladies� Day promotional event, and it�s clear that Beijer is very appreciative of what they achieved.

�Having such an enthusiastic 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 attractive 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 popular, 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 challenge for the KNCB to create a structure 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 division 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 teams will be playing a minimum of seventeen matches under the new set-up.�

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

�Hermes DVS Cricket wants to transfer love for 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. That�s what cricket can help provide, and it�s our task to spread that word more widely, in Schiedam and across the country.�