With less than half the West Indian side actually West Indian, you wonder at the value of their three-day game against a New Zealand XI at Lincoln, near Christchurch, which ended early in a draw yesterday.
The late addition of a trip to India to ensure Sachin Tendulkar got to play his 200th and final test in front of his Mumbai faithful - and not in South Africa, as the international schedule had it - messed around the West Indies' preparations for the three-test series in New Zealand.
So the bulk of the tour group are still making their way to Dunedin from the three-game ODI series, which they lost 2-1. Getting their heads around Dunedin in December, after November in Kolkata, Visakhapatnam and Kanpur, will be a challenge in itself.
What did those West Indians who were at Lincoln get out of the contest? Veteran Shiv Chanderpaul eased his way to 89 in the first innings; opening bowling candidates Sheldon Cottrell and Shannon Gabriel huffed and puffed and got dinged along the way, particularly by test opener Hamish Rutherford; and, well, that's about it.
Rutherford, with two fifties, opening partner Peter Fulton with more than two hours in the middle for his 53 yesterday, got some valuable time at the crease.
