When the fourth and final Cable and Wireless Test bowls off here today, the restoration of pride by keeping intact one of the most treasured records in West Indies’ cricket history, will be the prime objective for the Caribbean cricketers against the world’s best team in Australia.

Never before has any West Indian team endured the indignity of losing every Test in any of the 41 series, which have been played in the Caribbean since 1928.

That distinction is now on the line and every West Indian will be hoping that Lara’s reshaped and rebuilding side could somehow protect this feat and prevent such a proud record from falling by the wayside.

But according to Waugh, his all-conquering Australians, who hold an emphatic 3-0 lead, are also on a mission to create their own cricket history and will not be in a sympathetic mood.

Cognisant that his team must raise the standard of their overall cricket several notches in order to avoid being the first West Indian side to earn such an undistinguished record, Lara said he is using that as a means of motivating his players to start “something special”.

“It could be the beginning of something for us and that’s what we have been trying to drum into the guys,” Lara told reporters on the eve of match following a net session at the Stanford Airport Ground.

“We got a lot of Test matches left for the rest of the year and let’s make this the beginning of something. This is what we are looking at,” Lara declared.

“We are three-nil down, the series is gone, and of course the Australians have their own goal,” added Lara, noting the West Indies’ own goal “is to begin something fantastic here in Antigua and carry it on for the remainder of the year.”

Australia have raised the bar in World Cup cricket to unprecedented heights ever since Waugh took over the captaincy in 1999 and another victory will see him overtake former Guyana and West Indies’ captain Clive Lloyd’s record of 36 Test triumphs.

Having drawn level in Barbados, Waugh is on the verge of becoming the most successful captain in Test cricket’s history but Lara believes the West Indies have done well in extending the Australians.

“We have taken them to two five-day Test matches, in a couple of those, we were well set to saving or winning in Trinidad (but) we have set a standard and I am quite happy with the standard we’ve set, especially with the bat,” Lara remarked.

“There are areas with the ball and in the field that we need to work on to ensure the opposition doesn’t get let off the hook. We’ve dropped a few catches but I think, all in all, we are learning,” Lara noted.

“I like the standard set. I want us to keep maintaining it, keep playing them right to the end, and keep them as far down the road as possible. If we do that and we win a couple more sessions throughout each day’s play, we can win a Test match against Australia,” Lara contended.

“If we do that, that is definitely going to be a benchmark and we are going to take it from there,” added Lara but he acknowledged, “it is going to be tough against Australia but not as tough against other opposition.”

West Indies are likely to make two changes to the team, which lost by nine wickets on the wretched Kensington Oval pitch in Barbados.

Experienced wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs returns after recuperating from a leg injury which kept him out of the last two Tests at the expense of the diminutive 20-year-old Carlton Baugh while fast bowler Mervyn Dillon comes back after his one-match shake-up for rookie Tino Best.

Australia are expected to field the same eleven which played in Bridgetown unless vice-captain Ricky Ponting, who has already hit three centuries, including a career-best 206 in the series, is so weakened by a bout of influenza, that he cannot walk out to the middle.

The last time Australia played here in 1999, they defeated the West Indies to square the series 2-2, this time, they need another victory to complete a total humiliation of Lara’s side and wipe away the proudest record the Caribbean cricketers hold.

Teams:
West Indies (from) - Brian Lara (captain), Chris Gayle, Devon Smith, Daren Ganga, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Marlon Samuels, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ridley Jacobs, Omari Banks, Vasbert Drakes, Mervyn Dillon, Jermaine Lawson, Tino Best, Carlton Baugh.