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Bermuda's Under-18 cricket squad are looking to follow in the foot steps of young stars like Rodney Trott as they head to Barbados this week for the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers youth tournament.

New skipper Terryn Fray said the success of former team-mates like Trott and Tamauri Tucker, who have graduated to the senior squad and are currently playing with Gus Logie's team in Canada, served as an inspiration to the current crop.

The team has undergone a rebuilding process since competing in the Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia with Trott as skipper.

Now they have reformed as an under-18 outfit and are, for the first time, able to compete in the pan Caribbean schoolboy tournament. Previously Bermuda has sent teams to the tournament that have included over-age players - for preparation purposes - and their results have not officially counted.

Top order batsman Fray said: "When I was younger and I first started to play in the youth national teams, Rodney was my role model.

"He was the one who always took the lead and showed everybody where to go. It's nice to see him go on and do big things for the senior team."

Vice-captain, left-arm fast bowler Jordan DeSilva added: "Looking at players like Rodney and Malachi Jones and seeing what they have done already is a big motivation to us."

BCB vice president Allen Richardson said the aim was to create a continuous convey0r belt from the national youth programmes to the Under-18s/Under-19s and finally to the national team.

He said he hoped some of the squad that will head to Barbados on Friday could be part of Bermuda's World Cup squad in 2011.

The real motivation for the players, though, is to win this three-week tournament, which pits them against the best schoolboy teams in the Caribbean.

Bermuda, though it has not officially competed in the past, has measured up well. They lost last year to the eventual champions - a Trinidad combined schools XI.

"The mindset of most of the players on our team is that we want to go down there and win and get a chance to play at Kensington Oval in the final.

"This is the first chance we have had to actually compete and we are going to try and get a victory and make Bermuda proud."

The tournament which features two zones of ten teams pits Bermuda against Jamaica Under-17s, Trinidad Under-17s and an Antigua combined schools XI, among others.

The tournament begins for Bermuda against Dominica Schools next Monday with the final scheduled for July 23 at Kensington Oval, where the West Indies play in Barbados and the all-star game the following day.

Stars to have appeared in the tournament as youngsters include Brian Lara and Chris Gayle.

Bermuda's participation in the tournament is sponsored by Montpelier RE. n

Squad

Terryne Fray (captain), Jordan Desilva (vice. Captain), Regino Smith, Tre Govia, Deunte Darrell, Kevon Fubler, Joshua Gilbert, Machai Campbell, Sinclair Smith, Jermaine Usher, Michael Hudson Jr., Marcus-Alan Johnson, Macai Simmons, Torico Caines-Dill, Makai Young

Stand-by: Brian Hall, David Bedard, M'kai Hodsoll. Officials: Andre Manders (coach), Herbie Bascome (assistant coach), Gerald Bean (team manager), Nadia Tuckett (ccorer).

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