The West Indies began their rebuilding process around four years ago and a late run of form against the all-conquering Australians last month suggests the difficult task of bringing on young players may be bearing fruit.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, are starting to rebuild following the recent World Cup in southern Africa and the touring squad has an experimental flavour.

The teams clash in one-day games in Barbados on Saturday and Sunday, and again in St Vincent on Wednesday. They then play Tests in St Lucia (June 20-24) and Jamaica (June 27-July 1).

"The departure of Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda da Silva left a huge gap in our batting line-up," Sri Lanka's interim coach Duleep Mendis told reporters on Friday.

"But there are some promising youngsters coming through and others who may get a second chance now after being edged out by senior players earlier on.

"There is a good blend of youth and experience in the team. All they need is to play together and build some confidence," added Mendis.

Tillakaratne Dilshan, 24, and Naveed Nawaz, 27, are among those vying for Sri Lankan batting positions while leg spinner Kaushal Lokuarachchi, seamer Dharshana Gamage and pace bowler Prabath Nissanka are staking their claims among the bowlers.

LEADERSHIP ROLE

Skipper Marvan Atapattu is also looking to consolidate his position after the resignation of Sanath Jayasuriya.

"Sanath wanted to concentrate on batting and I think this is a very good thing because the more runs we get from him the better. He can also help guide Marvan, who enjoys the leadership role," said Mendis.

Confidence is high in the West Indies team after a record-breaking second innings in the fourth and final Test against Australia, followed by three successive one-day wins.

Those achievements were not enough to prevent Australia winning the series 3-1 and 4-3 respectively but the competitive manner of the defeats have convinced West Indies fans that the long-awaited revival is at hand.

West Indies skipper Brian Lara warned against the dangers of euphoria, though.

"We are coming off the high of beating Australia and naturally the whole Caribbean is expecing us to (beat Sri Lanka)," he said.

"Naturally we are looking forward to more success and the ideal time to start is now. The most important thing is to avoid over-confidence, to stay competitive and to be aware that it is going to be a very tough task."

Lara attributed the recent winning streak to an emerging game plan featuring himself as the number three batsman and Wavell Hinds, who hit centuries in the sixth and seventh one-day games, at number two.