The local school coaches of the three Jamaican members of the West Indies Under-19 cricket squad expressed great amount of pride after the team’s triumph at the Youth World Cup in Bangladesh.

Clive Ledgister, the long-time coach of cricket powerhouse St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS), has overseen the growth of off-spinning all-rounder Michael Frew and hard-hitting batting all-rounder Shahid Crooks.

Bevan Gordon, who coaches unheralded Maggotty High in rural area schoolboy cricket, has guided the career of Odean Smith, a pace bowler who is regarded as a capable lower-order batsman.

“As a coach you have to feel proud of what the young West Indies players achieved. It’s a very good feeling. It goes to show what we are doing as coaches, and it gives confidence,” Ledgister told the Jamaica Observer.

“Crooks is a good player who is going to give you 110 per cent when fielding, bowling or batting. I’ve worked with him since age 14, at the Under-14 level, and he is a player who coaches always like because he is easy to work with.

“I’ve worked with Frew since age 13 at STETHS and he is balanced as an off-spinner and as a batsman. But I also see him as a very good leader; somebody who is very responsible on and off the field, and as he grows older he will mature even more,” added the STETHS coach.

Gordon revealed that Smith was a late discovery at Maggotty.

“I started coaching Odean at the Under-16 level at Maggotty High. I thought he should have been playing long before, but I only discovered him at grade nine because we just didn’t have a culture for cricket.

“He’s a player with raw talent, he loves the game, he wants to learn more, and he is a young man who is willing to work hard. That’s why he’s reached this far, and with the talent he has, from here, I can see him moving on to play for the senior Jamaica team,” said the Maggotty cricket coach.

Frew, who hails from Westmoreland, played all six games at the tournament. Though not standing out, the former Jamaica youth captain bowled several crucial spells and complemented his more penetrative bowling partners.

Smith, a native of St Elizabeth, played in group matches against England and Zimbabwe without much success, while Westmoreland-based Crooks, who also bowls medium pace, did not feature at the tournament.

West Indies Under-19s defeated favourites India by five wickets with three balls to spare in the final on Sunday to cement the region’s first title at that level. Their previous best was a second-place finish in 2004.

During the 2016 edition the West Indies players showed determination and skill. In tight situations they boasted capable batsmanship down to the last man, incisive bowling and outstanding all-round team strength.

After a comprehensive defeat to eventual Group C winners, England, in their opening game of the tournament, they thrashed Fiji. A controversial victory over Zimbabwe in a close encounter ensured they qualified to the elite segment of the play-off stages.

The Windies team kicked on from there to defeat the highly fancied pair of Pakistan and hosts Bangladesh in respective quarter-final and semi-final contests, before the upset in the championship match.