There was relief as well as disappointment for the West Indies when the first day of their tour was washed out - because they had only 11 fit players able to take the field.
Contrary to earlier impressions that a full 15-man squad were present and correct, three have yet to even set foot in the country this summer because of visa and travel issues.
A fourth, key fast bowler Fidel Edwards, is still struggling with the back "niggle" which ruled him out of last week's Test defeat against Australia in Dominica and may yet prevent him from playing, not just at Hove over the next two days, but possibly against England Lions at Northampton too.
That would leave no cricket in the past month before the first Investec Test at Lord's for a bowler who has a history of back trouble - including surgery which ruled him out throughout 2010.
If West Indies captain Darren Sammy is concerned about those implications, he was not showing it after day one of three against Sussex was surprisingly called off at 1.40pm following heavy overnight rain but a dry morning.
Sammy's insouciance over Edwards was perhaps understandable, given the more immediate problem of whether he still has 10 fit team-mates to take the field with him should the weather relent on Sunday.
If his and the West Indies' luck is in, it is just possible he may yet have everyone bar Edwards at his disposal.
Guyanese pair Narsingh Deonarine and Assad Fudadin are in Jamaica, awaiting visa clearance to travel, while Marlon Samuels is thought to be in transit following his Indian Premier League stint with Pune Warriors. Sammy is optimistic the problems will soon be overcome, but other members of the tourists' back-up staff were equivocal.
"We have 12 guys here right now, and I think the other three are coming in later this evening," said the captain.
"It's a little bit to do with visas. They're going to be here, and they're not missing anything right now. We've not named our XI. They're batsmen, so they could come in and play straightaway."
