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THE Australian touring team left Sydney for the Caribbean yesterday, cautiously optimistic of beating the West Indies on home soil for the second time in succession.

New captain Steve Waugh is confident his side can succeed but has warned his players not to allow West Indies' poor recent form to make them over-confident. ``It's the first time I can remember an Australian team going to the West Indies as favourites,'' said Waugh.

``We've had plenty of beatings from West Indies over the years, but we don't want to go over there thinking we're going to give these blokes a hiding. We want to go over there thinking we're going to play good cricket and if we do that we're going to beat them.''

The only time West Indies have lost a series at home in the last 26 years was in 1995 when Mark Taylor's men beat them to regain the Frank Worrell Trophy.

As the tourists flew out, West Indies manager Clive Lloyd expressed his disillusionment following his side's 5-0 Test series defeat in South Africa. ``It's disheartening to witness all that we've worked for over the years fall away so swiftly without a fight,'' he said. ``While there are no plans to leave before my term is up, there's so much happening that I'm not happy about.''

Lloyd, whose contract is due to expire in October after the World Cup in England, said it had been a mistake to go ahead with the South Africa tour following the players' protest over pay which delayed their departure by almost a week.

``It was a bad start and, quite frankly, what we should have done was either tell the players, 'We'll sort it out later' or just cancel the tour,'' said Lloyd.

``I must have aged over 10 years on this tour. It has been so stressful, it's unbelievable.''

The first Test against Australia starts in Trinidad on March 5. The two-month tour comprises four Tests and seven one-day internationals.