Jamaica's Under-17 cricketers depart Sabina Park for the airport on their way to Trinidad and Tobago, yesterday. - Junior Dowie/Staff Photographer

AN EXPECTANT Jamaica Under-17 team left the island yesterday for Trinidad and Tobago where they will participate in the first West Indies Under-17 championship which will be held between December 11 and 19.

The team, which includes a number of players who have represented Jamaica at the Under-19 and Under-15 levels, will be seeking to emulate the performance of the national Under-15 team which won the regional championship earlier this year.

The side, to be led by St Elizabeth Technical (STETHS) 16-year-old legspinner Donovan Nelson, will be seeking to put to rest the ghosts of the Under-19 team which failed in its attempt to land the regional crown.

The team, which will open its campaign tomorrow against the Leeward Islands, will be coached by Gibbs Williams and managed by Courtney Francis.

Williams, who earlier in the year took a developmental Under-17 team to participate in the 23rd annual Sir Garfield Sobers International Schools Tournament in Barbados, said he was impressed with the make-up of the team.

"We have three players who were a part of the West Indies Under-15s and all, except Waterford High pacer Vander Rowe, have represented the country at one level or another already. Also, three were members of the Under-19s. What this means is that we have experience and while not favourites, we hope to give a good account of ourselves," he said.

Nelson, who along with John Campbell and batting all-rounder Ramon Senior, were members of West Indies Under-15 team, which defeated Bangladesh and Pakistan in a Tri-Nations tournament earlier this year, said the team has trained hard, and he too was confident of a good showing.

"We have been together for the past four weeks and team chemistry and everything is right. We have the ability, so it is just for us to go out there and make the country proud," Nelson said.

The championship, which is aimed at bridging the competitive gap between players at the Under-15 and Under-19 levels, will be played on a 50-over-per-side-winner-takes-all league format, similar to what exists at the Under-15 level among the region's top six territorial teams.

U-17 squad: Donovan Nelson (Capt) (STETHS), Hanchard Hamilton (Holmwood), Brian Gayle (STETHS), Jermaine Blackwood (Holmwood), Paul Palmer (STETHS), Chrishna Graham (STETHS), Kemar Marshall (Charlemont), John Campbell (Tacky High), Ramon Senior (Excelsior), Rajiv Service (William Knibb), Coi Thompson (St Catherine High), Vander Rowe (Waterford), Nicholson Gordon (STETHS), Omar Samuels (STETHS).