If ever a Test series marketed itself, this is it. The first official meeting in the republic between South Africa and West Indies features a touring team who spent weeks on the front pages because of a power struggle with their home board. And further unwanted headlines were composed last night after a car driven by the president of that board, Pat Rousseau, was hijacked in Johannesburg, scene of today's historic first Test.

Rousseau, his wife, the journalist Tony Becca and an official of the United Cricket Board (UCB) of South Africa were driving to the Soweto Oval when armed men forced them from the car and left them unharmed at the roadside. They were rescued by other UCB officials.

Even so, now that the Windies have been here for two weeks the Test is also being talked of in cricketing terms. This will delight those who, during the years of isolation, believed politics had no part in sport, just as it will infuriate those who believe sport without sub-text is not sport at all.

And much as Brian Lara's men tried to grab the limelight, the real intrigue lies behind the scenes at the UCB. Last year, in an attempt to accelerate the development programme, the UCB managing director, Ali Bacher, stated that it was no longer acceptable for a South Africa team to take the field without a player of colour. Hence the fast-tracking of the pace bowler Makhaya Ntini and the apparent guarantee of a place for the wrist spinner Paul Adams.

But Ntini has lost his squad place to David Terbrugge, a graduate of the Dennis Lillee fast bowling school in Madras, and Adams has bowled so poorly this season that many were shocked at his inclusion. "There are sometimes reasons why the team will be all white in certain matches," said Bacher.

Mvuso Mbebe, the chief executive of the National Sports Council, replied: "We are really concerned about that and will probably take the matter up with Dr Bacher after the Test match."

So the pressure is on for Adams to play. The feeling at the UCB is that the young man has gone off the rails in his personal life and that it is affecting his bowling, but that bringing him to Johannesburg will take him out of the comfort zone of his life as a star; a well-chaperoned Adams, it is felt, can be brought back into line.

The point is that the UCB cannot afford to lose its brightest role model; and, more pertinently, Adams at his best is more likely to win a Test against West Indies than the familiar pace of Shaun Pollock and Allan Donald.