Lara, who was captain when the West Indies toured South Africa in 1998-99 and were roundly drubbed in all five Tests, said the majority of his squad were players who had not been part of the ignominious defeat.

"The majority of this team was not here in 1998," the SAPA news agency quoted Lara as saying.

"We are going to play in our own era and make our own history for ourselves and the West Indies people."

Lara said his team, which arrived here from Zimbabwe where they won the Test series 1-0 and staged a sensational comeback in the one-day series where they came back from 1-2 down to win the five-match series 3-2, were better prepared.

"Playing a month of international cricket ahead of a tough tour like this always helps," Lara said. "Zimbabwe really lifted themselves for us and they played some hard cricket. It was great preparation for this tour."

The West Indians will also play five one-day internationals in South Africa.

In Lara's favour will be a loss of potency in South Africa's bowling resources.

Five seasons ago, the West Indies ran into Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock when they were at the peak of their form.