SYDNEY, Australia (CMC):

Former West Indies captain Brian Lara has urged the Caribbean side to fight fire with fire in the upcoming three-Test series starting tomorrow.

Lara, who quit international cricket in 2007, said West Indies needed to take control of the Test match early if they were to stand any chance of beating the Australians.

"We have to come out very aggressively to give us any sort of a chance to win. If you are going to beat Australia you have got to surprise them and take charge from very early," Lara was quoted as saying.

"You've got to take the game to them and try to dominate and dictate to them as early as possible.

a team environment

"In a team environment that's the only way anyone can beat Australia. You look at the results and realise that Australia will grind out a win far better than any other team."

West Indies have not won a series against Australia in 15 years and will be hard-pressed to break this trend when the first Test gets underway at 10 a.m. tomorrow.

Due to a bitter players strike, the bulk of the squad have played precious little international cricket in recent months and have played just one warm-up match ahead of the first Test.

Their batsmen shaped up well, however, in the second innings of the tour match against Queensland last week though their bowlers struggled in batsman-friendly conditions.

131-Test career

Lara, who had several bruising battles against Australia during a glittering 131-Test career, said West Indies should take some pointers from the recent Ashes in won by England.

"Australia is not a team that you can hope to come from behind against. It's as simple as that," said the 40-year-old who still holds the world record for the highest Test and first class scores.

"You just have to play Australia from in front. That's what England did and it worked well. You are not going to grind Australia into the ground and beat them on the last session of the fifth day."

"Australia is in a very strong position. They could have won the Ashes or lost the Ashes and it would not have mattered ... they would still be very, very hard to beat for the West Indies."