England expects at least a draw in Barbados Test

There is a statue of Nelson in the main square in Bridgetown that pre-dates the one in Trafalgar Square. Now the England cricket team stand on the brink of making history of their own, with victory still the key word.

It is 36 years since an England team returned from a Test tour of the Caribbean victorious but having gone two-nil up in a four match series, Michael Vaughan's team know that another win, or even a draw, in the third Test at the Kensington Oval in Barbados, will secure a series for the first time since Colin Cowdrey's team won one-nil in 1968.

The idea of playing for a draw does not sit easily with this England team that has gone out aggressively in all of its matches since arriving in the Caribbean. Indeed, such is the morale in the home side that it could even be the West Indies who would settle for a draw. After two dispiriting defeats, such a result would at least cast aside fears of the unthinkable - an English whitewash.

One of the key performers in England's wins so far has been Stephen Harmison, the fast bowler from Durham who has taken 16 wickets in the series so far at 10.87 each, including the key wicket of Brian Lara twice in the Trinidad Test. Harmison, like his colleagues, knows that it is not a foregone conclusion that the West Indies will keep rolling over as they have done so far.

"We have to do what we did in Trinidad," Harmison said during preparations for the Barbados Test. "We forgot about Jamaica and went into that Test with a clean slate. We have to go and do that again and make sure we get a result. There was a lot of hype around the first Test match before we played there and we just have to forget about that and the history that comes with it and go out and have a good first morning and that could kick-start us on to get a result.

"If we get a result we win the series, it's as simple as that, and that's what we're looking for, but to do that we will have to keep both feet firmly on the ground because there is a lot of expectancy and there will be quite a few fans here."

Harmison is right in that the ranks of the Barmy Army will be swollen by battalions of England fans who are not quite so barmy but who have flocked to Barbados despite the hike in ticket prices imposed by the West Indies Board. If they do see an English victory on this ground, it will be only the third in history.

There have been 12 Tests between West Indies and England in Bridgetown. The quality of the wicket has ensured that six of those have been drawn, with England losing in 1954 and then three times in succession between 1981 and 1990. Those were heavy defeats, by 298 runs, an innings and 30 runs and by 164 runs respectively.

England won an extraordinary match on the ground in 1935 when only one innings was completed and only 309 runs were scored in the match. West Indies were bowled out for 102 on a rain-affected pitch before Bob Wyatt declared England's innings on 81 for seven to get the West Indies in again. Having reached 51 for six in their second innings, West Indies declared to set England 73 to win after tea on the last day with the sun and wind rapidly drying out a damp pitch. Wally Hammond drove a six to bring up England's win after six wickets had gone down with only 48 on the board.

The next success in 1994 was altogether more conventional. Alec Stewart recorded a hundred in each innings while Angus Fraser took eight wickets in the West Indies first innings and Andrew Caddick picked up five in the second as Michael Atherton's side won by 208 runs.

There are three survivors from the drawn match in 1998 on England's last tour of the Caribbean, and Vaughan will be hoping that Graham Thorpe can repeat his hundred from then and that the other members of the `senior' middle order, Mark Butcher and Nasser Hussain can continue in the stubborn form that made such a contribution to the wins in Jamaica and Trinidad.

The wicket in Barbados does not have the same qualities as once defined it among the best in the world, but it should still favour the batsmen. That means the travelling fans should return home in a cheerful mood, with the series safely in England's grasp before moving to Antigua for the fourth Test.