PERTH, Australia (CMC):

History, coupled with a pacer-friendly pitch, will be the driving force behind the West Indies' quest for a series-levelling victory over Australia in the third and final Test which bowls off here Wednesday (9:30p.m. Jamaica).

With the Frank Worrell Trophy safely back in the hands of the Aussies following the tense draw in Adelaide just over a week ago, West Indies will be hoping to salvage something from the series by ending it with what would be a morale-boosting win at the WACA.

The pitch is expected to be a lively one - a welcome boon to their newest and fastest bowling recruit Kemar Roach, who has been the quickest pacer on show in the series.

The Windies have lost just one of their last six matches at the WACA and have won three of their last four Tests, dating back to 1988. Only one of those matches have gone the distance with the other three having finished inside three days, largely due to incisive fast bowling on either side.

With that said, West Indies have not beaten Australia in a Test Down Under in eight years and have lost nine of the last 10 played. They will also want to quickly forget that the last time they played at Perth back in 2000, they capitulated to an innings and 27-run loss inside three days.

Veteran

Ramnaresh Sarwan, now a veteran of 82 Tests, is the only survivor from that carnage and his desire to avenge that loss will be as crucial as his batting, which has failed to spark so far in the series.

Speedster Roach, will be central to their attack on a wicket that curator Cameron Sutherland has promised will be a lovely one.

"The aim is always pace and bounce. The last couple of years have been fractionally off the mark, but we'll hopefully rectify that this year," Sutherland said.

Roach has been more than a handful for the Aussie batsmen in the series, though he has taken just four wickets in the first two Tests. The lean Barbadian has consistently clocked a shade over 150 km in the series and has troubled all the Aussie batsmen with his searing pace, causing them discomfort on relatively flat wickets in the first two Tests in Brisbane and Adelaide, respectively.

Gayle backs roach

Captain Chris Gayle has backed the rookie speedster to shake up the Australians.

"Our young paceman, Kemar Roach will create a lot of problems and be a huge handful with his pace for the Aussies on the bouncy pitch in Perth. I think we will see something extraordinary from him," he said.

"He is very quick and very slippery. He bowled at 150 km/h in Adelaide, even late in spells when he should have been getting a bit tired. I'm no expert on pace, but I think he can go a lot quicker."

Roach will have as support another rookie pacer Ravi Rampaul, along with medium pacer Dwayne Bravo and tour selectors could be tempted to give fast bowler Gavin Tonge his first Test cap at the expense of either left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn or medium pacer Darren Sammy.

On the batting side, West Indies are hoping key middle-order batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul will be fully fit to take his place after undergoing scans on a finger injury sustained during the last Test.

Gayle will be hoping West Indies batsmen sustain their momentum from Adelaide when they achieved totals of 451 and 317. Both he and Bravo reeled off centuries, while Nash got 92; and these three will again be key on a pitch less favourable to large scores.

Australia, meanwhile, will look to hit back after almost being embarrassed in the last Test. After convincingly winning the opening Test by an innings and 65 runs inside three days, they stumbled and stuttered and were forced to hang on grimly for a draw in Adelaide against a resurgent Windies.

They are sweating on the fitness of pacer Peter Siddle, who has been bothered by a nagging hamstring and selectors have called up Tasmanian fast bowler Brett Geeves as cover.