"We have good momentum going into the game, but we're not going into the match too relaxed or over-confident," he said.

"We still have three matches left in this series, so this game is very important, and we can expect the England team to rebound strongly and try to make some sort of statement.

"So it's up to us to keep them behind in the series in the same position which they now occupy."

Gayle is well aware that consistency is still a bug for his side and recalled that in South Africa two years ago, West Indies similarly won the opening Test, but lost the Test series 1-2. He wants to avoid a repeat.

"Everyone is aware of what's happening and what they have to do," he said. "I don't think it is my responsibility to walk around and keep reminding players what their responsibilities are.

"Everyone has got to know their own game, and should know how they need to adapt, so it should be easy for me to go out there and get the job done."

England too, understood how crucial it is for them to win the second Test. Another defeat would give West Indies an unassailable lead in the series, and end their nine-year dominance of the Caribbean side.

West Indies have brought left-handed all-rounder Ryan Hinds and utility player Lendl Simmons into their 14-member squad, and will have to decide how to accommodate them, since only one place has opened up in the batting, following the omission of Xavier Marshall.

Squads:

WEST INDIES (from) - Chris Gayle (captain), Lionel Baker, Sulieman Benn, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Fidel Edwards, Ryan Hinds, Brendan Nash, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lendl Simmons, Devon Smith, Jerome Taylor.

ENGLAND (from) - Andrew Strauss (captain), Alastair Cook (vice captain), Tim Ambrose, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Adil Rashid, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann.