West Indies Rising Stars Under-19 coach Rohan Nurse believes the training camp from November 12-25 at the National Cricket Centre in Balmain, Couva, was a resounding success.

Nurse, alongside team staff Rohan Clarke (assistant coach) and Brendon Ramlal (manager), held intimate indoor and outdoor sessions with their 15-member squad, in preparation for the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka from January 13 to February 4.

Joining them were fellow staff Dominic Angry (physiotherapist) and Gregory Seale (strength and conditioning).

Initially, the squad was scheduled to play five games in Trinidad, three against the nation’s U23 team, and two against USA’s U19s, who will also feature at the World Cup.

Despite rain hampering three matches, Nurse said his team used the downtime to put in some much needed work in the nets, and also strengthen their personal ties with each other ahead of the major tournament.

“The two-week camp was quite beneficial in different ways. We utilised the indoor facility at Couva to get some conditioning and fitness work in, and work on skills,” he said.

“Fast bowlers would have worked on their death bowling skills, variations and yorkers. Batters continued to work on the ability to play spin; using their feet against it and sweeping. That was quite beneficial from that standpoint.”

Nurse said these areas were previously highlighted as key points after their tour of Sri Lanka in August. There, they played three One-Day Internationals and lost the series 2-1.

The U19 maroon also played two Youth Tests, drawing the first and losing the second. This tour was their first time playing together.

“We continued to build on the bond within the team and the culture we have.

Given the weather, we spent even more time with each other. The bond in the group continues to grow,” he added.

The varying weather, though, allowed the team to face different challenges on the field of play, and coach Nurse welcomed it. He said these unexpected obstacles allow players to think outside the box and adapt to changing conditions, therefore, helping mould a more all-round player.

“Even the surfaces (pitch) and matches provided different challenges, some which they may or may not encounter in the World Cup. However, as they grow as cricketers, and you play long format cricket….because one of our focus at Cricket West Indies is to produce multi-format cricketers instead of just red or white ball players.”

“Seeing players make good decisions on the field, tough out situations, because quite often the surface may have changed at Couva during the course of matches, and players had to make adaptations.”

Nurse said the passing of the team’s former manager, Gibbs Williams, two months ago in Jamaica, also played an important role in keeping the team united and focused. Williams was shot and killed in the parking lot of a medial facility in Portmore.

“The unfortunate passing of our past manager has also helped to galvanise the group seeing that we’ve all gone through a tragedy with each other,