Born: 26/11/67 Team: Leeward Islands Test debut: v South Africa at Johannesburg, 1998/99 ODI debut: - Wicket-keeper Left-handed batsman

An unspectacular wicket-keeper, his greatest value to the side has been to give the West Indies some much-needed substance in the lower batting order.

A success in domestic cricket for the Leeward Islands, the wicket-keeper had to wait until he was 29 for a first international cap.

And, after a disappointing one-day series against New Zealand, it was a further 18 months before he finally gained a chance in the Test side.

But since then he has been an ever-present, through 47 Tests going into this series.

Occasionally he has proven the only difference between survival and embarrassment for a sorry batting line-up, with two half-centuries at their lowest ebb - a 5-0 series defeat in Australia.

Later that season he became the first West Indian to score a Test century against South Africa with a career-best 118.

But his batting form has also plumbed the depths, as in India last year when he reached double figures just once in five innings.

Jacobs captained the side in Carl Hooper's absence in Bangladesh, but his dismissal from the vice-captaincy appears to show that the selectors are now looking for younger men.