BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — With the start of the ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup less than two weeks away, an optimistic West Indies Under-19 Head Coach Rohan Nurse says he expects the team to perform well and compete for the title.

The regional team will be hoping to end a 10-year drought — having captured their maiden title in 2016 — when the tournament, which will be co-hosted by Namibia and Zimbabwe, bowls off on January 15.

Speaking on the Mason and Guest radio programme recently, Nurse said preparations had been going well, even though they had been hindered by financial constraints.

“As it relates to preparation, preparation has gone as well as we could have hoped, given the financial constraints that we are experiencing at the moment.

“We have adapted a slightly different model from the past where the majority of preparation work is being done in the players’ local territories with the pathway coaches and franchises as well,” Nurse said.

“Thus far it has helped us because, obviously, it would have played a major part in us having two series wins against Sri Lanka and England, so we are quite happy with how that process is going and off the back of two very good series performances there are high hopes in terms of what this team can achieve and we are quite happy with preparations and the construct of the side going into Namibia.”

Skipper Joshua Dorne said the series wins over Sri Lanka and England had given them a boost heading into the tournament.

He said once the team was able to execute on the field, he expected them to do well.

“I think it is just for us to trust our preparation and know we are on the back of two very good series wins. It’s just about trusting our preparation, our routines, and me as a leader bringing the guys together on and off the field,” Dorne said.

The West Indies have been drawn in Group D alongside South Africa, Afghanistan, and Tanzania, with the top three teams from each group advancing to the Super Six phase.

They will play two warm-up games against Ireland and Japan on January 10 and 13, respectively, before facing Tanzania in their first match of the competition on January 15.