For what felt like a lifetime, the West Indies acted as the benchmark for cricketing brilliance throughout the world.

Under the watch of Sirs Clive Lloyd, Vivian Richards and Richie Richardson, the Caribbean conglomerate made the quantum leap from easy beats to heavy weights, proving unbeatable across 29 consecutive Test series between 1980 and 1995.

The balance and brilliance of talent from this era conquered all frontiers, including Australia - a destination where sides routinely arrive with confidence before departing in tatters.

Throughout their 15-year reign, the West Indies visited Australian shores five times, leaving with four series wins and a draw, with vim, vigour, pace and precision acting as the Calypso soundtrack right across the continent.

But these days of dominance are over. The genius of Lloyd, the master blasting of Richards and the wide-brim of Richardson now a lifetime ago.

Currently ranked 8th among 12 Test-playing nations, every skerrick of lacquer has been well and truly stripped from the Windies' crown. Throw in that only rain saved them the ignominy of a whitewash during their last Australian tour in 2015/16, and the bar before Kraigg Braithwaite's men has been set at ankle height.

Without a win on Australian soil since the summer of 1997, and devastating losses to Scotland and Ireland in October barring them from the recent T20 World Cup, West Indian cricket is at a clear crossroads.

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Whether observed up close or with a morbid curiosity, the West Indies concept is currently ailing in the public eye. Despite still holding a heartbeat, this fall from grace has been driven by poor governance, mismanagement and underdevelopment, as well as questionable selections, modest coaching and wayward application.

This present was recently referred to as a "spiralling saga of indignity" by former Cricket West Indies CEO, Chris Dehring.

But with the sun now shining in the southern hemisphere, and the Windies back for a brief burst of activity for the first time in six summers, the focus now turns to matters of leather and willow, with their opponents also reeling from their own winter of discontent.

In spite of the ailing situation felt across the islands, captain Kraigg Braithwaite and his XI will enter the first Test in Perth off the back of two consecutive series wins, having bested England (1-0) and Bangladesh (2-0) earlier this year.

Still, with the rise in opposition class and unfamiliar conditions ahead, few are expecting Braithwaite and company to provide much mettle when facing the ilk of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc in full flight.

Though the bar may be low, the ability to usher in a new era of West Indian cricket is also afoot, with 11 of the 15-man touring squad set to experience the full brunt of Australia's conditions and conditioning for the first time.

And while few will be expecting a Brian Lara-esque breakout from any youngster in the weeks to come, there are a handful of hopefuls that may still make hay on a lively pitch in Perth or under lights in Adelaide.

Before the toss on Wednesday morning at Optus Stadium, here are the 'Calypso Kids' that are best positioned to make their names this summer, even if all is said and done at Australia's merciless will.

Alzarri Joseph

Tall, quick and complete with a deadpan stare, the Antiguan quick has already drawn comparisons to some of the region's meanest bowlers from days gone by.

With 22 Tests to his name, Joseph has found consistency with both the ball and body of late after a shoulder complaint curbed much of his influence pre-COVID.

The 26-year-old already has 62 Test scalps to his name at an average of 34.93, but with career-best figures of just 3/33, the Winston Benjamin mentee will be hoping that a quick track in Perth will act as a launching pad for the series and summers to come.

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Despite going wicketless in the four-day hitout against a combined NSW/ACT XI earlier this month, Joseph hit back with aplomb against the Prime Minister's XI, collecting figures of 4/65 in the first innings, proving dangerous under lights with the pink ball.

Although content to pitch the ball short, using his high release point to intimidate, Joseph also proved able to bowl a tight line with the new ball, causing problems for top-order batsmen when bowling around the wicket.

With the promise of a fast track on Wednesday, the 193cm quick will naturally be enticed to challenge Warner, Khawaja, Smith and Labuschagne with chin music. However, this urge must be resisted early on, with a fuller length routinely proving the tonic in Perth.

Ahead of what will be Joseph's first red-ball hitout Down Under, former West Indies skipper Jason Holder professed that the youngster's 145kph thunderbolts are sure to keep the Australians on their toes.

"He's got pace and he's very aggressive. A guy who will be an enforcer," Holder said of Joseph in the lead-up to Wednesday's toss.

"I was actually quite shocked that he's 26... we celebrated his birthday on tour recently.

"It's amazing the time that has flown, (it's) so good to see him fit and healthy. He's obviously developed a lot as he was very introverted and didn't say much in the dressing room. He's a lot more comfortable around his peers, he's one of the more seasoned campaigners when it comes to all-format cricket."

With a high score of 86 at Test level, Joseph is also no slouch with the bat in hand and has cobbled together an average of 39 in his three innings so far this tour.

Jayden Seales

Still 10 months shy of his 22nd birthday, the Trinidadian seamer has already announced himself as one of the Caribbean's most precocious talents.

Throughout the opening nine Tests of his career, Seales has dismissed batters at will, collecting 36 scalps at a searing average of 21.78. However, without any red-ball experience earned outside of the West Indies, the gauntlet of meeting these means in unfamiliar conditions has been laid down.

At 19, the right-armer wrote his name into the record books, claiming career-best figures of 5/55 against Pakistan in Kingston and becoming the youngest West Indian to ever take a Test five-for.

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Akin to Joseph, Seales' height has proven a handful for opposition bats, with his release point and movement netting him 20 wickets during back-to-back home series against England and Bangladesh this year.

Seales may still be green at the international level but his maturity with the ball in hand was clear to see against Josh Inglis' XI. Throughout the course of the four-day draw, Seales completed multiple mature spells, keeping his field in the play at all times.

While snaring just a pair of wickets in the Australian capital, Seales' desire to draw Australian squad member Marcus Harris onto the front foot bore fruit on Day 3 when his tight line and shape back had the Victorian in all sorts.

Though favourable conditions in Perth and Adelaide should see Seales have an effect with both the red and pink ball, a knee injury sustained during centre wicket practice on Monday will mean that his selection is no certainty at this stage.

Joshua Da Silva

When the fellow Trinidadian's work behind the stumps is placed under the microscope, very few faults can be found.

Since making his debut in December 2020, Da Silva has claimed 61 dismissals across the course of his 16-Test career, including five stumpings.

The stocky keeper-batter may present a frame commensurate with brute force, but it is Da Silva's patience and deft touch that elevates him with both the gloves and the bat.

Da Silva proved perfect when keeping wicket against a loaded Prime Minister's XI side, providing his piรจce de rรฉsistance late on the opening day when dismissing Peter Handscomb off the bowling of Roston Chase.

Break Da Silva's effort down, frame-by-frame, and you will see minimal movement, with the 4-year-old reading the flight, turn and Handscomb's intentions to perfection.

This same skillset transferred into Da Silva's batting, with his downfall only arriving when trying to up the ante under lights. With a combined 77 runs from 204 balls throughout the match, Da Silva looked accomplished off the back foot and depending on the state of play, capable of scoring at several speeds.

In March of this year, Da Silva rang up his maiden Test ton when facing England in Granada. At the close of play, the fresh-faced talent professed that he had no qualms batting with the lower order, claiming he held confidence in those below him on the scorecard.

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With his desire to score paired with a capacity to play conservatively on a lower strike rate, Da Silva's duality will be important across the two-Test series as the anchor at No.7.

The Port of Spain product will also be chasing history each time he takes guard across the series.

Since the West Indies' first tour of Australia in 1930/31, only two Caribbean keepers have scored centuries on the southern continent - Gerry Alexander in 1961 and Jeffrey Dujon in 1984.

And with Brian Lara recently claiming that at least one Windie will need to breach the 200- run marker if the tourists are to have any hope, should Da Silva be that name, scores in excess of his current Test average (30.45) will need to be struck.

Tagenarine Chanderpaul

When speaking of Shivnarine Chanderpaul's legendary staying ability across the course of his 164-Test career, champion Aussie spinner Shane Warne contended that "he was a bloke you needed to crowbar away from the crease."

And in Canberra last week, son certainly mirrored father, as Tagenarine Chanderpaul was a presence in the centre of Manuka Oval for over nine hours of play.

Throughout his three stands on Australian soil so far this month, the 26-year-old has amassed 179 runs from 434 balls, showing that this staying power may well be genetic.

As punters and pundits are wont to, comparisons across generations have become as much a part of cricket as the six stumps and four bails at either end of the pitch. And while Tagenarine's propensity for valuing his wicket mirrors that of his old man, so too does his stroke play, with fielders in the cover region always on high alert.

Though Shiv's son routinely marks centre in a similar manner by driving a bail into the wicket, Tagenarine's stance is far more orthodox, with the youngster instead reflecting former Australian opener Simon Katich by stepping across his stumps upon release of the ball.

Though Chanderpaul's average of 59.66 so far this tour has seen him become Braithwaite's logical opening partner, it is worth remembering that the fledgling talent earned his place on the plane after compiling a first-class mean of 73.16 for Guyana this year.

Having tallied 7487 Test runs at an average of 42.29, there are few openers better place to harp on the specifics of scoring against the new ball than Desmond Leo Haynes.

Speaking earlier this month, the opening bat-turned-West Indian selector suggested that there were few better places than Australia for a young opener to hone their craft, or in this case, make their debut.

โ€œI think it's a good choice of picking the young man. (There is) no better place to start your cricket career than Australia where a lot of people believe if you do well against Australia then you're rated,โ€ Haynes delineated.

โ€œIt's always been considered a tough place to play cricket and I think he has the ability to do it and I want to wish him all the best.โ€

Chanderpaul went some way to repaying Haynes' faith during the first innings in Canberra, notching his sixth first-class ton in impressive fashion.

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Fighting arm and hand cramps throughout his mature knock, the left-hander's focus remained unwavering as he looked calm under the short ball and devastating against spinners Ashton Agar and Todd Murphy.

With his strong hands, still head and anchored back foot, Chanderpaul proved proficient right around the park, clicking through the gears comfortably to race through the 90s. These traits were also on display during the second innings as the youngster added a half-century before the game wound down to a draw.

In stepping across his stumps, Chanderpaul is clear in his intent to play outside off stump - a fact that could prove his downfall when facing the pace and consistency of Cummins Hazlewood and Starc.

This choice to play within the 'avenue of apprehension' may have kept the scorers busy on a slow and low track, but with 10mm of grass predicted for the pitch in Perth, the task of facing right-handers bowling over the wicket will provide a challenge the likes of which Chanderpaul is yet to see.

Still, if Lara's 200-run marker is to be met by anyone, the son of a man who amassed 11,867 of them in a maroon cap appears as good a bet as any.

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Whether or not the West Indies construct is still fit for purpose in this current age of franchise dollars and elevated professionalism is a debate for another day. At present, we have a live series on our hands with the Windies arriving in Australia with enough talent to at least mimic their titanic teams of yore.

Like all sides touring Australia, Braithwaite's XI will need to be bang on the money to start proceedings, as time and again, Cummins' charges have shown utter disdain for inconsistency and ruthlessness when facing defective techniques.

Yet, with the bones of this West Indies lineup having spent the better part of half a decade together, and moves being made to bring the region's talent development into the 21st century, perhaps, I write tentatively, we might instead see the next steps toward redemption and reclamation.