LEFT: England's dynamic batsman, Kevin Pietersen (File). RIGHT: Ramnaresh Sarwan ... aiming to be mentally and physically strong for the series (Reuters).

Tym Glaser, Associate Editor - Sport

THE WEST Indies have promised to turn so many corners now that they would make Erno Rubik, the inventor of that befuddling coloured cubic puzzle, blush.

However, after a dozen years of spiralling downwards in the Test cricket rankings, there are no more turns left - it's either bottom out or start rising back up when the Windies face England in a four Test series which starts on Thursday at venerable Lord's.

Gone is the final transcendent figure from the West Indies' glory days, Brian Charles Lara - the prince who never gained a throne,and instead a basically tried but oft-failed squad of 15 under new skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan and fresh coach David Moore will attempt, one way or another, to show that life goes on after BC.

Expectations have probably never been lower for a West Indies team in England in almost a half century and instead of those famous 'blackwashes' of the '80s, avoiding a 'whitewash' would be considered something of an achievement against the oldest of cricket enemies.

The tourists are not bereft of talent. In Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Jerome Taylor they have players that have risen to the highest levels at the game's zenith but the words 'talent' and 'wasted' have gone hand-in-hand in the Caribbean for so long, that the former is rendered basically meaningless now.

Only a supreme optimist can see anything but a series loss for the West Indians and the debate should really be about the margin of agony.

The West Indies have not won in England since the fading glory year of 1998 and any thoughts of catching a host team shattered by a 5-0 Ashes thumping are unfounded.

England will be chomping at the bit for Test revalidation and also reconfirmation of their status as the No. 2 side in the world (for whatever that's worth) over the No. 8 team.

The group that surrendered the little urn after less than a year will be boosted by the return of brittle skipper Michael Vaughan, reverse swinger Simon Jones and possibly Marcus Trescothick and that makes the team look a lot like the Ashes heroes of 2005 and not the remade model of a year later.

Although the tour falls within a drier time of the English 'summer', the conditions should still palpably favour the hosts.

Potential captain-in-waiting Daren Ganga, Gayle, Sarwan and Chanderpaul are going to struggle against the moving ball, while the likes of Daren Powell, Taylor, Fidel Edwards and, to a lesser degree, Corey Collymore are going to have to learn the nuances of bowling in England post haste.

They will be pitted against a frightfully deep England line-up, which could have the prodigiously talented but maverick all-rounder Andrew Flintoff coming in at seven.

England have four proven guys that can open their innings (Andrew Strauss, Vaughan, Trescothick and Alastair Cook), the Windies have one (Gayle); they have two players who can flay attacks (Kevin Pietersen and Flintoff), the Windies one (Gayle); the hosts can call upon four bowlers to swing the ball (Jones, Matthew Hoggard, Flintoff and James Anderson), the Windies maybe two (Collymore and Powell or Taylor on a good day). The home side has a potential match-winning spinner in the iconic Monty Panesar, the Caribbean side has none.

Cricket's a funny game, so they say, but it's hard to see too much laughter emanating from the West Indies' locker rooms this trek.

If Sarwan's squad can pull off a miraculous series victory, it could go down as one of the greatest shocks of all time and mark that upward turn the Caribbean has craved for too long.

If they lose, so be it.

Expectations are not high and all the fans of the team in maroon caps want is a show of fight and pride. Then even hitting bottom won't seem so bad and from that position, there's only one way to go - and it won't be around any more stupid corners.

tym.glaser@gleanerjm.com