19 August 2004	Thursday	02 Rajab 1425

LONDON, Aug 18: England will complete a second successive series sweep and equal the best run in their history if they beat West Indies in the final Test at The Oval starting on Thursday.

A seven-wicket victory in the third Test at Old Trafford gave the hosts a 3-0 series lead to follow a 3-0 rout of New Zealand earlier in the season. Another win in London would be England's seventh in a row, eclipsing the six successive victories of Peter May's side in 1957-58 and equalling the record set in 1928-29.

It would also be their 10th victory in 11 Tests this year, improving the nine wins out of 10 recorded by Mike Brearley's 1978-79 team. They could have been looking at 11 out of 11 but for Brian Lara's record 400 not out in the last drawn Test in Antigua in April, which prevented England crushing the Caribbean side 4-0.

The side for The Oval will almost certainly have one enforced change, with uncapped Warwickshire batsman Ian Bell poised to replace Graham Thorpe, who broke a finger during his first-innings century at Old Trafford.

West Indies actually performed far better than in the first two Tests, however, and can take positives to The Oval. "I think we played really well in the first innings and for the tail-end to get us to 395 was a tremendous effort," captain Lara said.

Promising 20-year-old all-rounder Dwayne Bravo hit 77 And took six wickets to dismiss England for 330 and give the touring side a first-innings lead. However, England strike bowler Steve Harmison came to the fore again after struggling in the first two Tests, taking four for 44 as West Indies were dismissed for 165 in their second innings.

England chased down 1 to win, with Robert Key making 93 not out to prove his 221 in the first Test at Lord's was no fluke. England's batting looks impressive with the injured Mark Butcher still waiting in the wings and the 22-year-old Bell deserving his chance after averaging over 80 this season in county cricket.

TEAMS (FROM):

ENGLAND: Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Strauss, Robert Key, Michael Vaughan (captain), Ian Bell, Andrew Flintoff, Geraint Jones, Ashley Giles, Matthew Hoggard, Steve Harmison, James Anderson, Simon Jones, Graham Thorpe.

WEST INDIES: Chris Gayle, Sylvester Joseph, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Brian Lara (captain), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo, Carlton Baugh, Dave Mohammed, Corey Collymore, Pedro Collins, Fidel Edwards, Devon Smith, Dwayne Smith, Ridley Jacobs, Omari Banks, Jermaine Lawson. -Reuters