Shivnarine Chanderpaul, once the most reliable middle-order batsman in the West Indies team, has been dropped from the squad for the fourth and final Test against England in Antigua.
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) announced a 13-man fourth-Test squad on Monday with Antiguan Sylvester Joseph as Chanderpaul's replacement, but there were no official reasons offered for the axing of the left-handed Guyanese.
Chanderpaul, one of only two active West Indian batsmen with a Test average north of 40.00, scored a half-century in the third Test in Barbados but his recent form has been poor. In the three Tests against England, Chanderpaul's scores have been 7, 0, 2, 42, 50 and 0, for an average of 16.83.
Chanderpaul is not the only West Indian batsman that has found runs difficult to come by. Captain Brian Lara is averaging 16.66; vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan 17.00; Chris Gayle 18.83; Ridley Jacobs 28.33; Ryan Hinds 23.00; and Dwayne Smith 15.00.
One source told CaribbeanCricket.com that Chanderpaul was dropped for "non-cricketing reasons" but no details were provided.
The 29-year-old Chanderpaul, who made his debut against England ten years ago, has played in 74 Tests for the Caribbean side, totaling 4,647 runs (average 42.24).
In Chanderpaul's place, the selectors have turned to 26-year-old Sylvester Joseph to possibly make his Test debut on his home ground. Joseph, a hard-hitting right-hander, played in four ODIs for the West Indies in the late 1990s but he fell off the radar in recent years.
Joseph's first-class record is nothing to write home about. In 50 FC matches, he has 2,314 runs at an average of 27.54 (highest score 211 not out).
Joseph did enjoy a solid Carib Beer Cup season this year, scoring 517 runs in seven matches (average 43.08 . (Caribbeancricket.com)
SQUAD: Brian Lara (captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle, Darren Ganga, Ricardo Powell, Sylvester Joseph, Dwayne Smith, Ryan Hinds, Ridley Jacobs, Tino Best, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore and Fidel Edwards.