The Cricket Development Institute will offer a 12-month program designed for players who want to take their game to the elite level in combination with completing a dual Diploma of Management and Diploma of Sports Development.

The CDI is being run by Ben Irwin (managing director) and ex-Victorian spinner Craig Howard (head of coaching), and will also feature specialist coaching from former Australian players Brad Hodge (batting) and Damien Fleming (bowling).

While the program will be heavily cricket-orientated, Irwin - a Bendigo District Cricket Association legend with Strathdale-Maristians - said the skills learned through the institute could be transferred to all sports and to other industries outside of sport.

"Cricket provides the perfect vehicle for learning leadership and management skills," Irwin said this week.

"Our students will train in a high performance environment, learning from the best in the business from a sports coaching and administrative perspective.

"Students will learn by watching and doing. There will obviously be a need to hit the books and the classroom to build on the knowledge required, particularly in areas such as exercise science, coaching theory and business administration.

"However, there is a large emphasis on applied learning, whether that be in the gym, in the nets or watching and analysing strategies and games.

"The skills obtained will be transferable to many other sports and business environments and successful completion of the program could provide the student with up to one year credit towards a business degree at a number of universities." 

Units of study will include athlete preparation, athlete development, coaching essentials, sports administration and leadership and management.

A typical week at the CDI will include a minimum of 20 hours per week, with days consisting of practical skills training, strength and conditioning and classroom-based sessions for the Diploma program.

Howard - who played 16 first-class games for Victoria in the 1990s and coaches Sandhurst Cricket Club - says as well as offering the Diploma program, the institute aims to provide elite coaching to those who haven't been part of a traditional pathway system.

"There are only a limited number of athletes catered for in traditional elite pathways, and so many more athletes who can benefit from a full-time structured program to take their skills and knowledge to the next level," Howard said.

"Cricket is booming at the moment and so many opportunities exist in all forms of the game for coaches, players and administrators.

"When I came through the system in the 1990s there was little thought as to a career pathway either within or outside of cricket.

"As time went by this became a little more of a concern as the pathway to the top becomes narrower.

"A key feature of this program is students will initially learn how to improve their own game from a skill and tactic point of view, and by the midpoint of the course will be working with other groups to impart this knowledge and become coaches in their own right."

"The Bowlologist" Fleming - who played a combined 108 Test and one-day internationals for Australia, taking 209 wickets - said he was excited to be involved in the CDI.

"The timing is right for a program like this. The opportunities for careers in cricket and sport have never been so ripe," Fleming  said.

The CDI program will include an overseas trip, as well as a strong focus on community involvement where students will put their skills to use by conducting clinics for disadvantaged groups and introducing new people to the game of cricket.

The CDI will run in line with the school year and will be based out of the Fit Republic Strength and Conditioning Centre in Abel Street, while the cricket sessions will be held at various indoor and outdoor facilities around Bendigo.

Enrolments are now being taken.

More information can be obtained by contacting Howard on 0400 978 727 or visiting www.cricketdevelopmentinstitute.com.au