Georgetown: Steve Waugh will become cricket's most-capped player when he plays in his 157th Test match against the West Indies in the first Test at the Bourda ground on Thursday.

The tenacious 37-year-old, battling to prolong his Test career before a majestic century against England in the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney in early January, is now firmly back in charge as the Aussies attempt to retain the Frank Worrell Trophy in the four-Test Caribbean series.

Waugh will pass another celebrated Australian cricketer Allan Border in the Georgetown Test but has played down its significance. "I'm aware that I'm about to become the most capped player in the history of Test cricket, which is nice, but as they say records are made to be broken and someone will go past it," Waugh said on Wednesday.

"I'll have it for the moment which is nice but really it's not something I can hang my hat on and say it's the highlight of my career." More pressing for Waugh is to get the Australians away to a winning start against the West Indians, who again are in a mess of their own making.

Former West Indies captain Carl Hooper has pulled out of the series, reportedly saying he won't play under new skipper Brian Lara. And 28-Test opening batsman Chris Gayle was left out amid reports the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) deemed him ineligible after playing in an ICC-sanctioned double-wicket competition in St Lucia.

Team vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan is unavailable through injury and Gus Logie is the caretaker coach for the series after Roger Harper was dumped in the wake of the World Cup.

"It's difficult but this is the reality of the situation. The players will have to dig deep, obviously we all have to dig deep and try to get the players to play together as a team," Logie said.

"Team work and team spirit will be most important. We have to use whatever adversity we have in the past few days and weeks and build us up and make us stronger. That's the only way to go."

Lara scored three centuries - one of them 213 in Kingston - to help the West Indies to draw the 1999 Caribbean series 2-2 and looms as the Windies' great batting hope.

Waugh will be without his two main bowlers, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, who between them have dismissed Lara 17 of the 40 times against Australia.

McGrath returned home last week after his wife had been diagnosed with a secondary cancer infection in her hip. He intends returning to the Caribbean in time for the last two Tests in Barbados and Antigua.

Warne is serving a 12-month ban for returning a positive drug test to a banned diuretic. "He's a great player, there's no doubt about that, and great players can overcome plans," Waugh said of Lara, who turns 34 during this series.

"He's got a great eye, he lives for the big moment against the best opposition, which I think all the great players have generally played their best innings against us in the last couple of years.