Bermuda Under-19 assistant coach Andre Manders believes his young guns have what it takes to re-qualify for cricket's youth World Cup.

And he has good reason to be confident, having watched his youngsters upstage Premier Division outfit Somerset in a 50-over affair at Somerset Cricket Club over the weekend.

The Under-19 national squad squeaked past Somerset by one wicket in an exciting affair that went right down to the wire. And Manders now hopes his youngsters can build on that recent success and go from strength to strength.

"Anyone would have thought we had won a trophy the way the players were jumping up and down," he said. "It wasn't even our strongest team as we were missing a few players and I think Somerset might have underestimated us.

"You can feel the confidence in the team at the moment and hopefully this bodes well for us for the games coming up. However, we (coaching staff) aren't really concerned about results but rather with the development of the players."

In the lead-up to July's World Cup qualifiers to be held in Canada, Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB) have made provisions for the Under-19 squad to play nine 50-over matches against Premier Division opposition as well as a match against Somerset that will be considered as a Cup Match trial for the West Enders.

And while the team stand to gain from the exposure of playing against senior opposition, there is also incentive for Premier Division sides who will be awarded points for victories against the Under-19s that will carry over to the domestic 50-over schedule to commence later this summer.

"The onus is really on the Premier Division teams because they receive points for a win while we don't. So clubs will have to field their strongest teams," Manders added.

"And this is exactly what we want . . . to give our boys the best competition before they go to the tournament. We would rather Premier clubs play their best players because we need the competition to gauge where we are at. Besides that, you never know how valuable those points may be for Premier Division clubs at the end of the season."

Bermuda will open their bid to re-qualify for the World Cup in Canada in July where they will come up against Americas rivals USA, Bahamas, Cayman Island, Argentina and the host country who they defeated two years' ago to book their place at the last World Cup in Malaysia.

The eventual top two teams in Canada will then advance to the next phase of World Cup qualifiers to be held in South Africa in October where the top five teams from a group of eight will qualify for the main event to be held next year.

Of his team's chances for success, Manders remains upbeat but admits the task is a daunting one.

"We are the defending champions of the Americas region and so it's not going to be easy because everybody is going to be gunning after us – especially Canada who we beat the last time to qualify for the World Cup," he said.

A final squad of 15 players will be selected next month with Manders keen to run the rule over his roster over the upcoming weeks.

"Right now it's all about trying different players. Therefore, every week we will be changing the team to have a look at everyone," he said.

Among those still to join the squad are UK-based all-rounder Gregory Maybury jr, leg spinner Tre Govia, all-rounder Shea Pitcher jr, seamer Jordan DeSilva, wicketkeeper Sinclair Smith and senior squad batsman Chris Douglas who is recovering from a fractured thumb.

Bailey's Bay batsman Terryn Fray has been appointed as captain of the Under-19s, following in the footsteps of predecessor and Bay team-mate Rodney Trott who captained Bermuda at the previous World Cup in Asia.

Manders and assistant Clevie Wade have been quietly putting the team through their paces since January and overall are impressed by the enthusiasm and commitment shown in training – especially from some of the newest and youngest members of the team such as Kamau Leverock, Keishon Wilson and Latiff Trott who all played leading roles in last Saturday's shock win over Somerset.

Leverock hit a fine 73 while Wilson and Trott claimed two wickets each.

Budding Southampton Rangers fast bowler Stefan Dill also made his presence felt over the weekend, claiming three for 36 to force the West Enders on the back foot.

"I was quite impressed with all of them and I think this victory is going to help the younger players that have come into the team," added Manders. "I think playing against Premier teams is going to give us time to prepare for the tournament (World Cup qualifiers). And we are going to need those extra matches to have a good look at all our players."