The former Red Rose skipper hasn't hung up his tracksuit for good. But after switching from cricket manager to director of cricket, he does not want to get in the way of the new first-team coach - whoever that may be.
Which means he could keep his distance when the four-day action starts at Sussex on April 21.
The 47-year-old has spent the last few weeks sifting through the applications for one of the biggest jobs in the county game, and is hopeful of starting interviews by the end of the month having compiled a shortlist.
And until the new coach is in situ, he will continue to oversee the players' pre-season training.
Once the new man is in place, Winker will still have an input into first-team issues and will still do some coaching, but he will also let the coach get on with his job.
"I won't necessarily go to every game," said Watkinson. "I will go to a number, I will go to a few second team games, a bit of under-19 cricket, spread myself around a little bit more.
"I will still do some coaching. I won't be in the nets all the time, the first-team coach will run the nets session, but I would like to think I have good enough coaching skills that it would be stupid just to waste them.
"When you look at the quick bowlers we have had through this club in the last few years, which I would like to think have gone through my coaching methods, it suggests I should continue to have some coaching involvement.
"If I am not at a game, that might feel different. Am I going to be there for the first game of the season? I'm not sure.
"That all has to be worked out with how much support the new coach needs or how much he wants to crack on with things himself.
"I don't want to be hanging round him like a bad smell with him thinking I am watching his every move. He needs to develop himself.
"Picking the team is something that needs to be discussed, linking in with the captain as well. I will probably have some input into general squads, but at 10.30am on a match day when you have 13 players and two aren't going to play, the first-team coach and the captain are going to have a big influence on that 11.
"But I am sure I will still feel the pleasure of winning and the pain of losing, just as much as I have always done.
"I want the players to still know and feel I am there for them. I have joined in a few of the training sessions like I would have done in the past - not as many - but I have joined in a few of them because they can't feel they are going to be short-changed at any period.
Standards
"This will be a good move for the players, I am convinced of that. I am sure they will appreciate it has been done for the right reasons, but in this little gap we have got now I need to make sure standards are maintained across the board."
Winker's move up to director of cricket seemed to happen very quickly last December. But discussions had been underway for some time.
Watkinson says he simply had too much on his plate.
"When my job description was compiled, people said: `blimey'. I was interviewing subcontractors for the new outfield and running the team.
"I am sure people were thinking, `Why are you going to see the club solicitor on a match day when you've got a Roses match?' How does that all go together?
"There was a lot to the role. People within my management team and the players, they were the ones who noticed it more. I thought if I keep trying to stretch myself in the way I have been doing, it is unavoidable that the players may be the ones that suffer.
"There were examples last season where I would be holding a nets session and get called away for something.
"We had a few issues with contracts and players last season, which was taking up quite a bit of time, the players see this as well.
"In the end, to give us the best chance of what we want to do - which is developing players and winning trophies - the players need quality one-to-one and team time and I don't want to compromise that in any way.
"Also, on a personal view, if people were going to only have the opportunity to judge my performance on what happens on the field, I felt that was becoming increasingly unfair.
"I feel the change is right for the club and right for me. We are set up well now.
"If we get the right person in I think we are in really good shape. I would like to think it hasn't been detrimental to the team over the last few years, and I would also like to think that we have got it at a stage now where there hasn't been a dip, we got it just in time.
"What this new person can give is dedicated time and expertise for the professional squad and the first team in particular. My job now is to oversee the whole package."
THE Aussies are coming to Old Trafford this summer, and to help celebrate Australia Day, Lancashire are giving away a pair of Twenty20 Cup tickets with each international ticket sold.
If you buy a ticket on January 26 for either NatWest International Twenty20 between England v Australia, you will receive a PAIR of tickets to Lancashire's Twenty20 Cup match v Derbyshire on June 2 free.
England face Australia on August 30 (2.30pm) and September 1 (7pm).Tickets start at £40 adults and £9 for U16s. Call the ticket office on 0161 282 4040 between 9am-5pm.
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I am concerned about the lack of clarity about the relationship between the director of cricket,coach and captain.The recent problems with the England team show how problems can develop when there is an over-elaborate management structure and in the final analysis it is the players on the field who deliver success or otherwise.
The almost total lack of response to this article, even allowing for its appearance in the middle of Winter, reveals a great deal. Interest in Lancashire cricket appears to be waning. I, for one, believe that this is because the product on offer at Old Trafford is becoming less and less attractive. The weather has certainly not helped over the last couple of seasons, but there has been a lack of enterprise in too much of the cricket. We don't seem able to produce confident, attacking batsmen of our own such as Frank Hayes and Neil Fairbrother in days gone by. (I wonder why Fairbrother is not in the frame to be coach?) I hope that the new coach will be able to instill a more positive approach to our batting and encourage a greater variety in our attack (something which has been sadly lacking recently). The players need to be reminded that they are providing a public entertainment. If they fail in that, what is their purpose? Only when the product (and not peripheral stuff like pop music) becomes really attractive again will there be more response to these latest articles.
I wish the new captain and coach well and hope that Mike Watkinson helps rather than hinders them. In my view if he remains in charge of cricket matters there will be little chance of a 'brand new dawn' at Old Trafford.