Their victory over England in the NatWest Series at Trent Bridge on Sunday has come as a positive and timely boost to the West Indies, not only to their own confidence but, more especially, to their status in this country.
Brian Lara's team arrived with a record over the past decade that confined them to the nether regions of the international game, placed above only Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test ratings.
Their 3-0 capitulation to England in the Test series in the Caribbean just a few months back added to the widespread notion that their return visit was no more than a rehearsal for England for tougher assignments to come in South Africa later this year and against Australia at home next summer.
There was a time when the charisma of players in the great teams under Frank Worrell, Garry Sobers and Clive Lloyd prompted administrators here to change the timetable established over decades to accommodate the West Indies more regularly.
In contrast, the 2004 team is so lightly regarded they weren't even met on arrival by their hosts.
Their defeat by Ireland in their second match and their tardy arrival for last week's warm-up fixture against Kent, even though caused by a traffic snarlup beyond their control, were cited by the media as further evidence of the decline of West Indies cricket.
Sunday's emphatic victory, by seven wickets with so many overs to spare, earned them a bonus point and came as a satisfying counter to all the negativity.
It is, of course, impossible to read too much into what was a solitary triumph in a limited-over match, given their inconsistencies of recent years.
All who have suffered through recent trials and tribulations are aware that Sunday's all-round competence can quickly be transformed in their remaining two matches each against England and New Zealand, into the indifference that has been a feature of their cricket.
But it would be disappointing and surprising if it is.
Lara made an issue prior to the series of urging his team to "hit the ground running" and to "start winning from ball one". The captain had become weary of repeatedly playing catch-up and of battling to avoid whitewashes.
The signs at Trent Bridge - and even in the truncated outing in artic weather against New Zealand at Edgbaston the day before - was that the message got through.
The most obvious reason is that the energy and enthusiasm of the talented young players have clearly had an energising effect on the team as a whole.
The two Dwaynes, Bravo and Smith, and Ricardo Powell have set dynamic standards in the field that can only lift the others.
Bravo's bustling medium-pace outswing that earned him three wickets on Sunday; Ravi Rampaul's recovery from the pasting he received the day before; Jermaine Lawson's relaxed control on his return after a year's absence; Chris Gayle's determined batting; and Ian Bradshaw's phlegmatic influence were all enough to encourage optimism.
Powell's catch at point to remove the New Zealand captain, Stephen Fleming, at Edgbaston will not be bettered this season - or any other season, for that matter.
That he intercepted a square-cut struck with Gayle-like ferocity far to his left was remarkable enough. That he managed to hang on to the ball with his left hand as he thudded into the ground was a miracle.
In the few matches to date, Bravo, still only 20 and at the start of his international career, promises to be the type of all-rounder so blatantly missing since Bernard Julien's exit all of 20 years ago.
Smith is another of that ilk. He is too naturally gifted a player to not come to terms with the alien pitches sooner or later and, when he does, will excite English crowds as he has already done South African and West Indian.
Lara wisely refrained from popping the champagne corks and dancing with glee after Sunday's triumph. Yes, he said, he was pleased with the performance but there was still room for improvement.
But at least he and his players now know they can beat England in English conditions - and that they won't be discounted any longer.