Chanderpaul dropped for fourth Test

Shivnarine Chanderpaul has been dropped for the fourth and final Test against England, starting in Antigua next week, after managing just 101 runs in six innings this series. But the West Indian selectors have resisted the urge to make wholesale changes to their batting line-up, despite the feeble second-innings capitulation at Bridgetown that handed England their first series win in the Caribbean for 36 years.

The circumstances which led to Chanderpaul being dropped were far from straightforward, with the board admitting that he had told them he felt "tired and lethargic". He was asked to meet with one of the board's medical panel to be checked out, but Chanderpaul "showed some reluctance to comply with this direction" and was sent home "for further evaluation".

West Indies now have only their pride to salvage, but Chanderpaul aside, they have put their faith in the batsmen who let them down in Barbados. The solitary change to a squad of 13 is the introduction of the local boy, Sylvester Joseph.

Joseph, 25, toured Australia with the senior squad three years ago, and has four ODI appearances under his belt, but he has yet to play a Test. He did, however, stake his claim with a decent performance in the recent warm-up game in Barbados, scoring 36 and 50 for a Carib Beer XI against England's second-string attack.

England, not for the first time this series, have a air of serenity about their preparations, although they are not without need of a bit of fine-tuning as they seek to inflict West Indies' first whitewash in a home series. In particular, the wicketkeeper's role has come under the spotlight, with Chris Read impressing behind the stumps, but consistently failing to produce a big score with the bat.

Since Alec Stewart's retirement, Read has managed 162 runs in 11 innings, and with Geraint Jones waiting in the wings, he knows he has to come good soon. "He's got to get a few more runs," admitted England's coach, Duncan Fletcher. "He's been given quite a good run in there and it's an area we might have to look at, even though his keeping has been very good."

Jones took his chance with an impressive 66 in the warm-up game in Barbados, but Fletcher was loath to read too much into that. "You've only seen one guy in a three-day game compared to a Test match," he said. "Once they step up to that higher level it's totally different."

In the meantime, Fletcher's main concern is to keep his team fully motivated, even though the tour's main objective has been completed. "It's very easy to lose a cricket game and very difficult to win one," said Fletcher. "Anyone can lose it, but to win is hard and they have to make sure they develop this culture that you just keep dominating and don't relax at any stage."

West Indies squad
Chris Gayle, Daren Ganga, Brian Lara (capt), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Sylvester Joseph, Dwayne Smith, Ryan Hinds, Ricardo Powell, Ridley Jacobs (wk), Tino Best, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Fidel Edwards.