The high-profile appointment of Dav Whatmore as director of the National Cricket Academy symbolised a step-up in professionalism, but the Australian believes that the NCA has to be a friendly rather than an imposing place for his wards.

"We need to get the message across that the Academy is a non-threatening place," the former Sri Lanka [Images] coach said on the sidelines of the Nike SPARQ event in Mumbai on Wednesday.

"The NCA is a strong, meaningful place, where you learn a lot and have some fun. It's not a place where you will be hammered with work or physical training. For sure, they will be made to go through the grind but they will get something good out of it.

"Fitness was always very high on my priority list. Most of the players who come here haven't ever done those kinds of drills before, so it's a great learning experience for them."

Whatmore also revealed that Andhra Pradesh's B Arun will be appointed fast-bowling coach at the Academy, particularly keeping in mind the frequent injuries to the pacers in India.

"We have decided to create a pace bowling unit with 20 boys. We have a full-time bowling coach in B Arun and he will give them as much technical help as possible in 12 months to ensure they are ready to take the big step.

"A lot of fast bowlers are breaking down, and, maybe, we need to look at the bio-mechanics. Tinker if we have to, alter the action if we need to make sure that the individual remains injury-free."

The 54-year-old, who planned the winning strategy for Sri Lanka in the 1996 World Cup, brought immediate success for the Indian juniors, guiding them to victory in the under-19 World Cup this year.

"The under-19 experience was a one-off thing, it was an individual assignment. I am happy that we could taste success as well in that period."

Though he will be working full-time at the NCA, Whatmore will have another session with the under-19 team later this year, in August and September.

He also said that the addition of consultant and applied bio-mechanist John Hamer should help the players at the NCA a great deal.