BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Struggling opener Travis Dowlin has been axed for the third and final Test against South Africa but selectors have kept faith with the badly out-of-from Denesh Ramdin for the series decider at Kensington Oval starting Saturday.

The right-handed Dowlin has been replaced by dashing Barbadian opener Dale Richards who played in the five-match One-Day International series where West Indies suffered a whitewash at the hands of the Proteas.

Dowlin had a wretched time in the first two Tests, scoring four and one as West Indies slid to a heavy 163-run defeat in the first match in Trinidad and Tobago and managed just 10 in the drawn second game in St Kitts which finished Tuesday.

Richards, meanwhile, has been recalled for the Test before his home crowd after showing signs of form during the ODI series. The 33-year-old right-hander stroked two half-centuries in gathering 157 runs in four matches at an average of 39.

His selection ended speculation that 20-year-old Trinidadian opener Adrian Barath would have been called up for the Oval Test, after spending several weeks on the sidelines with injury.

Richards played two Tests last year against Bangladesh during the strike by top Windies players, scoring a half-century in the second Test in Grenada.

Ramdin, meanwhile, has been retained despite his ailing form that has yielded a miserable 131 runs from his last eight innings. He averages 23 after 41 Tests but remains preferred to Jamaican Carlton Baugh.

Ramdin’s latest failure came when he was dismissed for just one as West Indies piled up 546 on a flat track at Warner Park during the second Test last week.

His poor form has extended to the one-day version where he has scraped together just 112 runs in his last nine innings.

Fast bowler Ravi Rampaul has been left out of the squad after picking up a side strain in the second Test, and has returned home to Trinidad to undergo therapy.