PORT OF SPAIN, March 18: West Indies will be playing to restore pride when they face England in the second of four Tests starting on Friday at the Queen's Park Oval.
The home side sank to their lowest Test total of 47 as Michael Vaughan's side, bidding to end England's 36-year wait for a Test series victory in the Caribbean, completed a 10-wicket triumph in the opening Test after a career-best bowling performance from Steve Harmison to take a 1-0 lead.
A defeat in the second Test would seriously dent West Indies' hopes of stopping England from breaking their Caribbean jinx, since tying the series in the final two Tests at Bridgetown and St John's will require a huge effort from the home side.
"We have to recognise we are playing a different match and put the right foot forward to ensure we stay on top," West Indies captain Brian Lara said. "What's important for us is to get in front from early and stay in front. This has been something we have not been able to do for some time and this is what we have to work on."
There was a time when teams that cornered and conquered West Indies the way England did in Jamaica would cringe just contemplating the backlash that would come their way in the next Test.
However with a young side clearly still trying to wade through the waters of international cricket, West Indies no longer have the armoury that would allow them to hit back with equal or substantially more venom than England did at Kingston.
Lara can still turn a match on its head, but his supporting acts will need to play with greater vigour to transform the fortunes of the former world champions.
"The guys have to erase what happened in Jamaica from their memories and not allow it to affect us psychologically," Lara said. "We can still come back and give a good performance. The senior players, with both bat and ball, did not perform as we should have in the opening Test and so we need to perform much better and so we are to blame, but must put it right."
Contrary to the public outcry, only one change was made to the squad from which West Indies will pick for the match. Left-arm medium-fast bowler Pedro Collins replaces Fidel Edwards, who has been given two weeks' rest to allow his back time to heal.
He is likely to complete the fast bowling attack with Tino Best, Corey Collymore and Adam Sanford leaving Ryan Hinds, Dwayne Smith and Ricardo Powell to again fight for the final batting spot.
Hinds hit 84 in the first Test after being picked ahead of Powell following a hand injury to Smith that seems to have healed and will allow him to be considered for selection.
England too, know how crucial the match is for them. After all the hype of the last few days, they know that last Sunday's performance will only mean anything if they can win the series.
The visitors too, are well aware how other England teams have come to the Caribbean with great expectations and have found themselves returning home, in some cases, literally nursing their wounds.
"We cannot control history, but we can control how we play in the remaining three matches," England captain Michael Vaughan said. "We have come to Trinidad full of confidence, but we know the West Indies are a very good team and now that they are down they could get even better. They will be looking to come back strong."
England will hardly change their winning squad, but will hope they can transform their confidence into performance, particularly in the batting. Mark Butcher and Nasser Hussain batted courageously during a hostile period of fast bowling from Edwards and Best to score half-centuries, but no one else showed similar mental fortitude.
Their biggest worry would be left-handed opener Marcus Trescothick, whose wretched form continued in the Test with another single figure score. The previous seven matches at Queen's Park Oval have all ended in a winning result and unless the pitch has changed substantially over the last year, another should be expected.
Teams (from):
West Indies: Brian Lara (captain), Tino Best, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Chris Gayle, Ryan Hinds, Ridley Jacobs, Ricardo Powell, Adam Sanford, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Devon Smith, Dwayne Smith.
England (likely): Michael Vaughan (captain), Marcus Trescothick, Mark Butcher, Nasser Hussain, Graham Thorpe, Andrew Flintoff, Chris Read, Ashley Giles, Simon Jones, Matthew Hoggard, Stephen Harmison.
Umpires: Daryl Harper (Australia) and Billy Bowden (New Zealand).
