Provided all the other players make the trip without the pair, and that seems highly unlikely at this stage, the leading candidate would appear to be Jimmy Adams.

Others who would appear to come into the reckoning are Philo Wallace and Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

Courtney Walsh would almost certainly be ruled out since he was relieved of the captaincy only this year.

Curtly Ambrose has never been considered previously as a serious leadership contender and he ran afoul of the authorities recently when he was fined for verbally abusing an umpire in the Red Stripe Bowl. He must also be close to retiring.

Ambrose's captain in the Leeward Islands team is Stuart Williams, whose indifferent batting rules him out, surely.

Adams, 30, who leads his native Jamaica when Walsh is absent, was given the job of captaining the West Indies 'A' team on its 1997-98 tour of South Africa. Some thought that was a sign that the WICB was grooming him for the leadership.

But if that was their plan, it had to be cast aside as the 3-0 defeat in Pakistan hastened Walsh's departure and the elevation of Lara, whom the board had rejected once before.

Adams, whose form of late has been questionable, still has a Test average of 51.31. He is regarded as a thoughtful, intelligent individual who would bring a measure of stability, yet intensity, to the job at this time.

Wallace, the no-nonsense captain of Barbados, is a most interesting candidate. Once thought of as short of Test class, he has an opportunity to put any doubts to rest on this tour, should it take place.

Early in his career, the 28-year-old opener was regarded as temperamental but has shown recently that he is maturing as a player, individual, and tactician.

Although Chanderpaul's name may be in the hat because of his relative success (ave. 45.82) and his experience at captaining Guyana when Carl Hooper is not around, he would appear to be too inexperienced at the age of 24 to take up the captaincy in such turbulent times.