By Justin Langer Australia batsman in Guyana

Although it took what felt like an eternity to arrive, it was a great joy to finally land in the Caribbean for the start of our 2003 tour of these diverse, exciting, proud, cricket-loving countries known to us as the West Indies.

Having left my home port of Perth at 6:00am last Monday morning, my back felt like it had moulded into the shape of an airplane seat by the time we finally touched down in Guyana at 9:00pm on Wednesday.

The locals have not been slow to tell us what they think of us

If you add a 10-hour time difference it might make a little more sense when I confess to falling asleep about a minute after entering my hotel room in Georgetown, Guyana.

Twelve hours after dropping like a bowling ball onto the middle of the mattress, I woke up still wearing my suit pants, shirt and loose tie around my neck.

It's my third trip to the West Indies and the previous are entrenched in my memory bank as up there with my favourite cricket tours.

Back in 1995, we were able to win the Frank Worrell Trophy for the first time in two decades and although I didn't face a single ball of Test match cricket I can confidently say that that series had the most profound impact on me as a player and person.

I watched from the changing rooms as the Waugh brothers, Mark Taylor, Shane Warne, David Boon, Glenn McGrath and co produced performances that helped inspire Australian cricket to new heights.

Lara's genius means West Indies pose a real threat

The 1999 tour left me with mixed feelings as it was Steve Waugh's first series as captain and one in which the team lost its way to complacency and the festive spirit of the Caribbean atmosphere.

After comprehensively winning the first Test match in Trinidad, Brian Lara decided it was time to fight back - and fight back he did, playing three of the greatest Test match innings I've ever witnessed.

A scintillating double hundred in the next Test in Jamaica was followed by a match winning 150 in Barbados and an awesome 80-ball century in the final Test in Antigua.

Rather than a whitewash series as we had expected after the first Test, the result was a hard fought 2-2 score-line which allowed us to retain the trophy, while losing some pride along the way.

Looking back, that 1999 result is significant now, in that I wouldn't be surprised if the result then, didn't contribute to Steve Waugh's decision to continue playing Test cricket.

Knowing his determined character he will be keen to show how much this team has developed since he took over the leadership four years ago.

The skipper decided not to call time on his career

After months of will he or won't he retire speculation, let me just say I am delighted the skipper is here to lead the team for one last time in a place where he has excelled so many times before.

We all know that we are going to have to be on top of our game if we want to retain the trophy.

While we have the momentum and confidence gained by the guys in their triumphant World Cup campaign, we know that for the second consecutive Test match we will be without superstars Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath.

Their loss, and the absence of Damien Martyn with a broken finger, is sure to have an impact on the team, but it also opens up the opportunity for some new blood into the ranks of this team which has been largely settled for some time now.

New faces and enthusiasm is always a welcome ally and while the loss of such stars is difficult to absorb, the World Cup highlighted just how a champion team will beat a team of champions any day.