Despite the absence of some of the Island's top junior cricketers, national coach Mark Harper is confident Bermuda can do well in the Under-19 World Cup Qualifying Tournament - if players produce their best.

"It's always a bit disappointing when you're going to a tournament and you're not taking all your best players. This has been an issue with Bermuda throughout the years. For one reason or another we just cannot put our best team on the field.

"But I think the players who have been selected are very capable and - if they put their heads down and give 100 percent - I am sure they can give a good account of themselves," Harper said optimistically.

A final team has been chosen from the original squad of 20 players to represent the Island at the five-nation qualifier starting in Toronto, Canada, later this month.

Bermuda will be up against the USA, Canada, Cayman Islands and Argentina as they bid to reach the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Under-19 World Cup final.

"I expect it to be a very challenging and competitive tournament. The Cayman Islands, the USA and Canada - you don't know what they will be like because they have lots of expatriates. They are always unknown quantities. They are always likely to have very good players. Argentina is in there too," added Harper.

Jacobi Robinson, who is "on the mend" from recent injury worries, is tipped to skipper the side which should be announced shortly. The Somerset fast bowler is expected to play for his club this weekend and, disclosed Harper, has been training hard with team-mates.

On Monday, the Under-19 captain participated fully in training, including an hour-long gym work-out.

Though the commitment of the junior cricketers to training has fluctuated in the past few months, Harper said "most of the guys have shown improvement".

"Some of the players have been very good, some have been lackadaisical but it has steadily improved.

"We had challenges in our preparation but we have to put those challenges behind us now and look ahead to the tournament."

One player whose attitude has "really improved", he pointed out, was Dion Stovell. The young talent has shown a lot of responsibility, said Harper.

He also confirmed that some players like Alan Douglas Jr withdrew for family reasons, while others were overlooked for attending few practices though excelling at club level.

Regarding the exclusion of Treadwell Gibbons Jr and George O'Brien Jr for fighting at a practice session, Harper declined to say much. However, he was adamant about the discipline expected of those selected for the national squad.

"This is a national team and we have certain disciplinary procedures that we expect the players to adhere to. If you're playing international sport you're expected to conduct yourself in a certain way.

"Suppose something like that happened on the field or in Canada, what would people say?" noted the coach, adding that the players' behaviour was among topics discussed during a meeting between cricket officials, players and their parents last week.

In this final week of training before leaving the Island, the Under-19 team will be fine-tuning their technical skills as well as focusing on the mental aspects of the game.

There is also likely to be a practice match on the weekend.

One disappointment, noted Harper, was that they would not have the best facilities on the Island at their disposal during this crucial period.

"It's disappointing that we can't train at the national stadium this week because there's a football clinic there.

"We were really looking forward to utilising the excellent facilities there. There are two nets which we use for our technical stuff and there's also a very smooth outfield which is ideal for our fielding drills and so on.

"We've switched to the Police Field and we're making the most of it," he said.