Cricket Third Test: England are attempting to block out the fact they have history in their sights by approaching the third Test against West Indies in a thorough and professional manner.

Despite a fan-base from England increasing by the day and interest and expectation growing as the Test draws nearer, the tourists are determined to treat their date with destiny as they would any other international match.

The island of Barbados may be buzzing with talk and chatter about England's chances of securing their first Caribbean Test series triumph since 1968, but the squad have knuckled down to two days of hard practice sessions.

Michael Vaughan underlined the squad's confidence by naming an unchanged line-up for the third successive Test and for the first time since their tour to New Zealand two years ago.

"We had a good practice yesterday and I'm seeing a very focused group of players who are just doing their job as normal," the captain said.

"There's been no talk of 2-0 this week. We see this as a massive game in Barbados with a huge English following and we have to go out and play a good game of cricket, and if we do that we know what the results will be.

"We're 2-0 up and it is fantastic, but this is just another game and come tomorrow morning it's a fresh start.

"We have to be really focused and make sure we just do our job over the next five days. What comes after that we can't control but if we play well I'm sure it will be pretty nice."

To that end, the senior players like Graham Thorpe, Mark Butcher and Nasser Hussain are likely to be called upon both on and off the pitch to ensure England's young team can maintain their consistency and book their place in English cricket history.

Those three members of the lower order have already played their part in the opening two Test victories, forging crucial partnerships following the failure of the openers to provide a foundation.

However much England may try to dampen down expectations over the next few days, though, the emphatic margin of their victories in Jamaica and Trinidad have already prompted predictions that they can avenge the 5-0 "blackwashes" of 1984 and 1986 by recording a 4-0 triumph during the remaining Tests.

However, for Vaughan and his young team just a series win in the Caribbean would be sufficient to give them a major boost in their development as a side as they bid to re-establish themselves among the leading lights of the game.

"We've got a youngish set of lads with Simon Jones having only played four Tests, while Steve Harmison has only played about a dozen," Vaughan said.

"We're probably looking at a team about 60 or 70 per cent of the finished article so we're a long way off being where we want to be - but we're progressing very nicely."

A draw will be enough to secure a series victory, but with the dormant talent within the West Indies line-up, England are wary of approaching the Test with a negative attitude and will seek to emulate their victory at the Kensington Oval in 1994.

The captain added: "We'll be going to try and win this game.

"We set out to win every game of cricket and I don't see trying to play for draws, especially in the Caribbean, as being the way forward.

"We'll be playing in exactly the same manner. It could be different because the first two games might not favour the bowlers as much as in the last two Tests, but we'll definitely be trying to win the game."