This is the tour for Ramnaresh Sarwan to finally and firmly establish himself as one of the premier batsmen of the new generation.
So far, it hasn't worked out that way but the stylish righthander has a last chance over the next four days to free himself from the lack of form, confidence and luck that has enveloped him over the past month in Zimbabwe and even in the oneday South Africa tour opener against Nicky Oppenheimer's Eleven on Wednesday,
The match against a depleted Free State team here is the only opportunity Sarwan has for a lengthy innings before the first Test against South Africa starts in Johannesburg next Friday.
Since he announced his arrival in the Test team, aged 19, with an unbeaten 84 against Pakistan Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq and all at Kensington Oval in 2000, Sarwan has carried the unmistakable stamp of an eventual champion in the mould of his fellow Guyanese, Rohan Kanhai.
Appointed Brian Lara's vice-captain in the home series against Australia and Sri Lanka earlier this year, he began the twin-tour here against the background of two innings that helped set up two West Indies' victories in that season.
His 105 was the top score in the record fourth innings total of 418 for seven that beat Australia in Antigua in May. And along with Brian Lara's unbeaten 80, his dazzling, second innings 82 a month later, was the catalyst for the series-clinching win over Sri Lanka in Jamaica. It was the platform for Sarwan to assert himself in Zimbabwe.
Instead, he has faltered. A combination of careless shot selection none more careless than his uncultured swipe that left him stumped for 39 on the crucial last day of the first Test - and run outs meant he left Zimbabwe with only one score over 50 in ten innings.
When promoted to number three in the fourth ODI, a position in which he has been successful, he was out first ball.
His scratchy 23 off 40 balls on Wednesday, when he was run out for the third time on tour, reflected an absence of conviction. His feet are certainly not moving as they do when he is on top of his game.
His prime intent now seems to be to steer the ball to third man with an open face instead of the firm cuts and fluent drives that are his favourites.
Sarwan is crucial to middle order stability. It gives the Free State match considerable relevance, even if the province has followed the modern trend and is fielding a substandard eleven against the touring team.
Alan Donald, Botha Dippenaar, Morne van Wyck, Victor Mptisang, Dewald Pretorioius and Johan Van Der Wath are all first team players expected to be missing.
Donald, the great fast bowler who retired from Test cricket at the start of the year, now captains the province, a position worthily held for the past two seasons by former West Indies captain Jimmy Adams.
The West Indies contrived a remarkable defeat in the corresponding opening match here five years ago. It was a prelude to the ill-starred tour that followed.
After Nixon McLean's seven for 28 swept aside Free State for 67 to earn a first innings lead of nearly 300, Lara declined to enforce the follow-on.
Dismissed for 181 second time round, the West Indies set the province over 400 to win and, led by a hundred by Hansie Cronje, the late and, in this his home town, still revered South African captain, they got them.
The West Indies are without two players carrying injuries. Vasbert Drakes has been given more time for the strained side muscle that kept him out of the last two ODIs in Zimbabwe to heal in time for next week's first Test. Marlon Samuels is again unavailable through the recurring knee problems that have bothered him throughout his young career.
He is to see a specialist here today after which a decision on his future on the tour needs to be quickly made. Already, Samuels' fellow Jamaican, 19-year-old fast bowler Jerome Taylor has returned home because of his continuing discomfort from a sprained lower back that a specialist in Zimbabwe had passed as fit enough for him to play. Taylor's replacement, the back-of-the-hand chinaman and googly specialist Dave Mohammed, was a logical choice, given South Africa's known aversion to wrist spin and the need for variety in an attack previously staffed by six fast bowlers. Mohammed is not expected to arrive in South Africa until Sunday so that his first match opportunity would be against Border in East London between the first and second Tests.
Teams:
West Indies: Brian Lara (captain), Wavell Hinds, Chris Gayle, Daren Ganga, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnar-ine Chanderpaul, Ridley Jacobs, Omari Banks, Merv Dillon, Ravi Rampaul and Corey Collymore.
Free State (from): Gerry Liebenberg (captain), Ryon Arendse, Herman Bakkes, Jonathan Beukes, Cliffie Deacon, David Makopanele, Ryan McLaren, Sylvester Motsami, James Schorn, Tandi Thabalala, Sipho Siban Ventner.