THE FIRST Test of the Digicel 2005 series between the West Indies and South Africa is scheduled to get under way at Bourda today. Following the row that has rocked and is rocking West Indies cricket, however, there is a possibility that it will not do so. News coming out of Guyana is that there is a move to get the players to go on strike, that some of the players are in favour, and that there could be a strike at the last minute. The betting, however, is that the Test match will be played, and although the West Indies will be without regular captain Brian Lara, Christopher Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan and even though that means they will be without three of their four top batsmen, new captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul and manager Tony Howard are upbeat and looking forward to a good performance. "I am positive," said Chander-paul on the eve of the Test match. "We are all positive, and once we play to our abilities ­ and all the guys are talented ­ once we play to that and play better than South Africa, we will win." "I always look forward to a challenge," said Howard, "this is a challenge and the players will approach the challenge with confidence." RELENTLESS PERFORMANCE Coach Bennett King, the man who has been drilling the players over the past few days, is also looking forward to something. He is looking forward to a relentless performance ­ and especially so from his batsmen who he wants to keep going once they get going . According to all three, victory is possible, and such is the game of cricket that it is indeed possible ­ even on a Bourda pitch that is traditionally a batsman's friend. Remembering that South Africa have won 10 and the West Indies only two of the 15 Test matches played between the two teams, however, remembering that but for the one-off Test of 1991 which the West Indies won, South Africa have won the three series between the two teams ­ two in South Africa and one in the West Indies, and remembering that the best of South Africa defeated the best of the West Indies 5-0 in 1998-99 and 3-0 in 2003-04, it is difficult, even with all-rounder Shaun Pollock absent, to see a weakened West Indies team defeating the best of South Africa. South Africa's supremacy is also demonstrated in other areas. While the West Indies best total against South Africa, for example, is 454, South Africa boast two over 600 ­ 658 for 9 declared and 604 for 6 declared, and while the West Indies have fallen for a low of 121 and eight times below 200, South Africa have been routed for under 200 only three times with a low of 141. With Lara, Gayle and Sarwan in their line-up, the West Indies would have been hard-pressed to defeat South Africa for the simple reason that their bowling is short of quality. Without Lara, Gayle and Sarwan, the odds, Pollock or no Pollock, are definitely in South Africa's favour. The big question facing the West Indies is what combination to take into the Test match. Should it be six batsmen, the wicketkeeper and four bowlers, or with three of their top batsmen missing, should it be seven batsmen and three bowlers with two batsmen ­ Ryan Hinds and his left-arm spin, Narsingh Deonarine and his offspin ­ helping out the bowlers? The combination should be six batsmen and four bowlers, the batsmen should be Wavell Hinds, Devon Smith, Daren Ganga, Donovan Pagon or Deonarine, Chanderpaul and Ryan Hinds, and with not one spin bowler in the 13-man squad, the bowlers should e Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Daren Powell and Dwight Washington. As positive, as confident as they may be, it will be tough for the West Indies batsmen against the likes of pacers Makhaya Ntini, Andre Nel and Andrew Hall and left-arm spinner Nicky Boje - and it could be worse for the bowlers against a line-up that includes captain Graeme Smith, Jacques Rudolph, Herschelle Gibbs, Ashwell Prince and last but by no means least, Jacques Kallis - the batsman who scored six centuries in 11 innings against the West Indies last time they were in South Africa and in doing so won high praise from Lara. "It was the best batting in a series, Test and one-dayers, that I have, in my playing career, ever witnessed," said Lara. Reprinted from jamaica-gleaner.com