JOHN MOONEY has just returned from a weekend trip to Denmark where he conducted fielding master-classes.

The invitation came at the behest of current Danish coach Jeremy Bray, who praised Mooney for the superb sessions.

"John was primarily brought over to work with our senior national squad players and a select "best of" under-age national players focusing on fielding," said Bray.

"John was there for just the one day, conducting two sessions, each lasting two and a half hours. He worked just on fielding specifics, with the primary focus on speed, communication and the importance of team work. He also went through the warm up drills we can use to get the players quickly engaged and switched on for match day."

Widely regarded as one of best fielders in not just Associate but world cricket, it was a no-brainer for "JB" to utilise Mooney when the funding became available.

"I got John Boy involved for two main reasons. One being that fielding is an area we need to improve a lot on. More so on the game awareness and working as a whole unit not just one or two players.

"Secondly john is without doubt up there with the best fielders in world cricket and eptomizes hard work, selflessness, always putting the team first and a great in-depth knowledge on what makes a high class fielder and more importantly what makes a high class fielding team. It was a no brainier for me to get him involved."

Bray is keen that this is the start of using Mooney in a consultancy role, and revealed plans for forging closer links between Danish and Irish cricket.

"I am definitely looking to use John going forward - not just with our senior guys but also under-age players. His experience and professionalism will definitely bring Danish cricket forward.

"We are over in Ireland from 21-25th April, where we will be playing Leinster Lightning, Northern Knights and a Hills Select XI. We will definitely be looking to use John over the few days we are there and I am also hoping to use the services of another legend of Irish cricket.

"We have pretty much tied down a link with the famous Hills cricket club in Leinster. For this year anyway it will see more than likely two of our national players play pretty much a full season with their senior side.

"When our National side tours there in April, the club will give us full use of their wonderful facilities.

"We are also looking at coach exchanges between the two associations and also visits from their under-age players to come to Denmark and be involved in our Academy program plus match fixtures also."

We wish Danish Cricket, The Hills and John Mooney all the best in this progressive and innovative initiative. This type of programme could well be the benchmark for other European countries starved of any meaningful cricket by the cricketing cull carried out by ICC.