Not one of the easiest games to pick up from scratch, Australian kids used to hone their cricket skills through endless hours of backyard tests – usually with an eclectic range of house rules including "family dog fielders", "rubbish bin run-outs", "six-and-outs", and "paling fence caught-behinds" – over the summer holidays.

With so many more diversions for modern children, though, many simply don't get the same opportunities for informal matches with the neighbourhood gang, as were enjoyed in the past.

To help introduce the basics of the "gentleman's game" to a new generation, Spring Hill Public School has been running a four-week clinic over recent Fridays, with afternoons of cricket and a barbecue to finish off the fun.

The whole project has been the brainchild of sports-minded staff member Chantelle Larfield, a dab hand at the great game herself.

"It's being run by the Centrals Club and was developed between myself and the committee," Chantelle revealed.

"I play Friday nights in social sides and in the (kids and parents) Centenary Cup," she added.

The school events are a great way to introduce cricket in a fun and non-competitive atmosphere, Centrals Club Secretary Lester Currie explained. He believes that, due to its unique skill set, cricket is a game best introduced at a young age.

"This is our fourth week here and we also held one at East Orange School as well," Lester explained.

"The great thing about cricket is that it teaches so many skills as a sport; but it's a game to pick up in primary school," he believes.

During the sessions, students were introduced to a simplified range of practice skills to do with catching, batting and bowling, so as to encourage later learning and interest in a game traditionally known as Australia's national sport.

"We're showing them how to play with tennis balls and smaller bats and balls, just to get the basics.

"Learning how to bowl, how to hold a bat, they're not natural actions in themselves, they're learnt skills, and you have to be taught them," Lester explained.

The program is part of a government initiative aimed at introducing sports to a generation that may not have been exposed to as much unstructured play as those in the past.

"This is part of an Office of Sport NSW grant to help us introduce games like this to the kids," Lester said.

"It's a pilot program to teach them the basics of batting and bowling, to introduce them to the game," he concluded.