MIKE Watkinson is a cricket coach in demand - so it was little wonder that Lancashire were so keen to sign him on a long-term contract.

The 42-year-old started the year by signing a contract that will keep him at Old Trafford until the end of the 2007 season.

That followed Watkinson's stint as a coach with Duncan Fletcher's England side on their tour of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka during the winter.

His success in blending youth and experience at Old Trafford has not gone unnoticed at the top of the English game - but Westhoughton-born Watkinson is typically modest about his achievements.

"Having a longer-term contract does not mean that you tackle your day-to-day business any differently," he said. "But it does make you feel good that the club want you around.

"It also means that you get a chance to be around to see the fruits of the things you've implemented.

"We have a good academy here at Lancashire, and this contract means that I will get the chance to see some of our young players push through."

Despite his time with England over the winter, Watkinson has made it clear that he is firmly committed to Lancashire.

"My main job is with this county. I was happy to help England; it was a good experience, but I also looked on it as an opportunity to pick up ideas, and to see if there was anything that I could pinch to use with Lancashire."

So was there anything he pinched from his time with England? "A cap and a T-shirt," he replied.

Watkinson's dry sense of humour, allied with a strong work ethic and a long and successful playing career, has made him one of the game's most popular and respected figures.

He took charge of a Lancashire side struggling to adjust to the loss of stalwarts such as Graham Lloyd and Neil Fairbrother, helped to bring through youngsters such as James Anderson and Astley Bridge's Sajid Mahmood, and took the county to within a whisker of the County Championship last season.

"We have an academy scholarship scheme, and the future of the county lies with this system," Watkinson said.

"Sometimes, you have to strengthen by bringing in certain players, which is why we signed Dominic Cork from Derbyshire.

"What you don't want to happen is for all your older, more experienced players to grow old together, because it can take a while to build up a team again."

There is little doubt that the emergence of Anderson is one of Lancashire cricket's great success stories of recent years.

"The rise of James from club cricket in Burnley to the England side is a great incentive to all our academy players," Watkinson said.

"They know that if they continue their progress, they could also be playing international cricket in two or three years."

Watkinson has also played a key role in pace bowler Mahmood's meteoric rise from the Bolton Cricket League to the England A side.

"We had some tremendous reports about Saj while he was away with the England A team. He improved while he was away; he's getting more consistent with his run up, and that gives him a little bit of leeway.

"He's got pace, and anybody who can bowl quickly is always going to be an asset to the side. He is somebody who can complement the seamers we've got."

Watkinson is not one to make rash predictions about winning County Championships, but he has set the benchmark high for this season.

"Success for me would be sitting here at Old Trafford at the end of the season and being able to say that we've improved and built on the progress we've made over the last couple of years."

Whisper it, but the next four seasons could just be a golden era for Lancashire.