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Already shaken by the heated debate over Brian Lara's probational reappointment as captain for the series against Australia and Carl Hooper's long-distance uncertainty, the West Indies had to deal with another piece of unsettling news yesterday.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul, so often the sheet-anchor of the unstable batting, has been told his right shoulder, injured in a fall while fielding in the fourth One-day International in South Africa, requires two more weeks treatment. In other, disheartening words, he is out of the First Test, starting at the Queen's Park Oval today week.

Monica Benn, the chief physiotherapist at Prashad Hospital in Georgetown who is treating Chanderpaul, presented the report on the left-handed batsman's situation to Guyana Cricket Board president Chetram Singh yesterday.

Singh said he had updated the selectors on Chanderpaul's progress. They had asked for an opinion as to whether he would be available or not and that had now been submitted.

Benn said Chanderpaul had sustained ``a slight dislocation'' that had not been detected in South Africa. He continued to play in discomfort and further aggravated the damage by tearing ligaments. ``There is still some inflammation that needs to be cleared up,'' she said. ``Right now, he finds difficulty in raising his arm above the horizontal and it is best that he hold off for another two weeks to ensure that it is fully healed''.

That would be in time for Chanderpaul to play in the Second Test, starting at Sabina Park in Kingston, March 13.

Benn said that, in addition to daily treatment, Chanderpaul was also working out daily, jogging between two and three miles and working on his conditioning, toning, flexibility and strength in the gym with training in the gym.

Describing him as ``a very disciplined young man'', she added: ``All of this will help the healing process and help him to get strong. He could also put on some weight and he needs that as a physically demanding international sportsman.''

She pointed out that it would be imprudent for Chanderpaul to return to play too quickly. ``He shouldn't rush things before he's ready,'' she said. ``There's a lot of cricket ahead and that shoulder should be 100 per cent recovered to cope with it.''

Benn, a specialist in sports medicine, said she suspected a more serious injury from watching Chanderpaul's movements in South Africa on television.

``You could see he didn't have proper control swinging the bat,'' she observed. ``But they didn't diagnose a dislocation in South Africa and he did more damage by playing on.''

Chanderpaul's absence will be keenly felt, in the batting and the fielding. His consistency in 35 Tests is confirmed by an average of 42 and 19 scores over 50, if only two hundreds. In addition, he was the only West Indian fielder to bear comparison with the fast, athletic South Africans.

Contenders as a replacement-or replacements, plural, should Hooper also be missing-will all be on view this weekend in the Busta Cup semifinal between Barbados and Jamaica at Kensington Oval and the Australians' match against the President's XI at Guaracara Park.

The battle-hardened candidates are three captains-the left-handers Jimmy Adams, the Jamaica captain, and Keith Arthurton, the Nevisian chosen to lead the President's XI, both with 33 Tests, and the right-handed Roland Holder, the Barbados captain (10 Tests).

Dave Joseph, the heavy-set 29-year-old Antiguan right-hander in his 10th season of regional cricket, has a further chance to advance his claims to his first Test cap at Guaracara.

If his first-class average is a modest 35, he has two Busta Cup hundreds to his name this season and will not be daunted by the challenge. When the Australians were last in the Caribbean in 1995, he took 83 off bowling that included the two main men, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne.

He will have to act quickly, however. The squad for the Test was originally scheduled to be picked on Monday but, for some unexplained reason and according to reports from Trinidad yesterday, it is now expected to be named at a media conference at the Trinidad Hilton tomorrow night.