THE International Cricket Council (ICC) published its updated Test championships ratings yesterday.
Coming as it did, whether by coincidence or not, on the eve of the first Test between England and the West Indies at Lord's, it emphasised a gap between the teams as wide as the Atlantic Ocean than separates them geographically.
England's recent surge of winning form, the latest manifestation of which was their 3-0 triumph over today's opponents in the Caribbean three months ago, has carried them to 107 points, second only to peerless Australia who head the table by a clear 22 points.
In contrast, the West Indies, every bit as powerful and as dominant 20 years ago as Australia are now, languish eighth out of ten, with 76 points, ahead only of Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, Test cricket's newest entrants.
Even if they win all four Tests - an eventuality that would, at least, put the ICC's high-priced anti-corruption unit to work - it still wouldn't alter their position, so far do they trail the rest.
Not since the Thirties, in their early years in Test cricket when their team comprised mainly weekend club players, have the West Indies been regarded so lowly.
Nor since then have they fielded a team as inexperienced as the eleven who take the field today.
Seven (in batting order, Chris Gayle, Devon Smith, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Smith, Dwayne Bravo, Omari Banks and Tino Best) are under the age of 25.
Six (all but Gayle of the preceding lot plus Pedro Collins) have never played a Test in England. Five (the two Smiths, Bravo, Banks and Best) have fewer than 10 Tests. One (Bravo) is on debut.
The disparity between the teams - in recent performance, in experience, in self-confidence - appears simply too wide to bridge in a series of four Tests.
Yet stranger things have happened in this strange game and there have been a few crumbs of encouragement for the West Indies.
The first, known for some time, is that Andy Flintoff, who is becoming as inspirational an all-rounder for England as Ian Botham once was, is unable to bowl because of a bone spur on his ankle that is likely to require an operation at the end of the season.
He will play solely as a batsman (and slip catcher), a role that brought him an unbeaten hundred in the final Test of the recent series in the Caribbean and two in successive innings in the preceding NatWest Series of One-day internationals.
It reduces England's attack to three fast bowlers, led by the formidable Steve Harmison, supported by left-arm spinner Ashley Giles.
On what is expected to be a typically true Lord's pitch, Flintoff's absence could be a critical factor.
Additionally, England must also do without Mark Butcher, their reliable, left-handed No.3 who has been ruled out with an injured neck, caused by whiplash when his car was struck from behind on Monday.
He has played 46 of his 69 Tests in succession and his replacement, the right-handed Robert Key, lacks his experience (he has eight Tests), his record (average 18.7 against 34.9) and, on the evidence of his nervous batting in the NatWest Series, his confidence.
The West Indies should also be buoyed by the weather forecast.
It is for warm, unbroken sunshine over the five days, more akin to the Caribbean than the autumn-like climate that has followed them through most of the previous six weeks.
It would reduce the threat of late swing that has always been the hallmark of bowlers raised in England - and the nemesis of batsmen, not least present West Indians, without the benefit of county contracts to teach them to adjust their techniques to deal with it. As always, and as it used to be with the great George Headley in the 1930s, a sizeable first innings by Brian Lara, their captain, would be an immediate and vital boost.
Lord's is one ground where a hundred has eluded the phenomenal left-hander.
That and his passionate, but gradually fading mission to lead a West Indian revival with the gifted young players he has assembled under him, provide him with enough incentive to make what is almost certainly his last series in England a personal triumph.
Andrew Strauss, England's newest Test player, observed over the weekend that, whatever the ICC ratings state, it is the West Indies' inconsistency that makes them so unpredictable and dangerous.
"We know that they have some explosive players and if they all get going it could be a very difficult, and watchable, series," he wrote in a Sunday newspaper.
The nursery rhyme adage that when they are good, they can be very, very good but when they are bad, they are horrid, applies more to this team than any other.
Whatever else, they are rarely boring, a reality that has led to all 28,000 tickets at the game's most prestigious ground being snapped up at considerable expense.
England's resurrection, after an eternity of the misery the West Indies are presently going through, is obviously a factor.
But it is no more so than the continuing appeal of West Indies cricket, built on the deeds of their great players and great teams that have graced Lord's and every other venue in England, going back to legends like Learie Constantine, George Challenor and Headley in their formative years.
For a host of reasons, the huge, uplifting support the West Indies once received from their kith and kin resident in this country is, like county contracts, a thing of the past. The present representatives have to soldier on without such benefits. It makes a tough assignment even tougher.