Papua New Guinea coach Martin Gleeson believes that his team is ready to be one of the challengers at the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 3.

The team starts its attempt to win a place in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier when they take on Cayman Islands today (Saturday).

'It is a great opportunity for the boys to be here and since finishing third in Darwin 18 months ago the guys have been quite keen to redeem that performance,' said Gleeson.

'The guys are very excited and we have been training hard in preparation since September last year and they are ready to go.'

Gleeson believes the support that some of the ICC Full Members have shown to some of the participating teams at the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 3 is vital to the development of the game at this level.

Seven of the PNG players were lucky enough to warm up for the event by being part of a ICC East-Asia Pacific team that took part in the Australian Country Championships in January, while the whole squad trained at Cricket Australia's Centre of Excellence last year.

'I think it is crucial and the Australian Country Championships is a great chance for the players to be exposed to a higher level of cricket and have the intensity of playing a two-day game and play in an intense period of time,' said Gleeson.

'The Full Member support shown to some of the teams here, having the chance to spend time at a National Cricket Academy, is fantastic. We spent a week at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane last year and you can't underestimate the importance of that at this level of the game.'