Test cricket can be a test of optimism. Succumb to the half-empty glass, and soon there is a depthless void. The summer is too long to be a funeral march for West Indian cricket, even with Shannon Gabriel, Marlon Samuels and Phil Simmons as pall-bearers.
So when the West Indies received their turn to bat - Steve Smith showing in equal parts tactical acumen and merciful hospitality - the only attitude to take, in the face of so much evidence for despair, was that no wickets were down, no mistakes had been made, and reputations were upon the wall waiting to be claimed. For the incurable optimist, each West Indian batsman offered some kind of future. They are not club cricketers; they are young cricketers. 
Kraigg Brathwaite, a first-class opening batsman since the age of 16 and a Test cricketer since 19, is a long-term West Indian project. Now 23, he has four Test centuries, including one in South Africa, and a proven ability to concentrate for long periods.
After half an hour anchored in his crease, Brathwaite missed the first straight ball he received.
His opening partner Rajindra Chandrika was still waiting for his first Test run after a pair on debut against Australia in Kingston in   June. But Gordon Greenidge made a pair on debut against Australia; so did Graham Gooch. This time Chandrika was quickly out of the blocks, a compact and well-organised batsman with a resemblance to Mahela Jayawardene. He was helped by an Australian new-ball attack that did not ask him to play the ball as often as it should. Perhaps spooked by the front-foot punishment the West Indian bowlers had received, the Australians pitched too short and too wide. After playing quite nicely for more than an hour, Chandrika nicked a half-volley from Nathan Lyon.
Samuels? Well, where has cricket's Forrest Gump not been, what character has he not played? Samuels has been a teen prodigy, a flame-out, a man of the match in a World Cup T20 final, and has scored Test centuries in South Africa, India and England. He has also been banned for spot-fixing and chucking, and has thrown his bat down the pitch at Shane Warne. All of this is hidden behind a Test batting average of 35 and statistics that scream mediocrity in flashing lights, if such a thing were possible.
More revealing, perhaps, of the everyday reality was his meek drive into Lyon's leaping range after a brief stay. They may be a no-name team, but so were many of Clive Lloyd's youngsters in 1975-76. Jermaine Blackwood, another project player, scored 112 in nearly a day against James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Jordan and Ben Stokes just seven months ago. Amongst his Australian opponents, only Steve Smith managed a century against England this year. Blackwood is a player to watch. But not for long, not on this day at least. He troubled the scorers only to plant four dots on their sheets before nudging an off-break to bat-pad. At number three, watching most of it, was Darren Bravo - a serious cricketer and a far better batsman than the missing Dwayne. Darren Bravo, at 26, has a better record on Indian wickets than any of the Australians, and he has made a Test double-century in New Zealand. How much will Smith's men pay for one of those a couple of months from now?
Bravo alone managed to resist for any length of time. But that is to make it seem harder than it was. The ball swung and seamed minimally, while the wind and occasional rain tested the concentration. Bravo only looked troubled when the ball kept low. Otherwise he pottered away solidly against bowling competent at best. Josh Hazlewood found consistency after the shine went off the ball, but the way Lyon probed and puzzled raised the question, for the second time in consecutive Tests, whether the Australian selectors would have been better off giving him a spin partner.
By the end, however, the only way that the glass was staying half-full was with the help of precipitation. Cricket is a funny game, not a lament, and stranger things have happened than this Test match not continuing on its current trajectory. But is cricket that funny, or that strange? Probably not. Some great surprise is needed for this series. And miserable Tasmanian weather in   December is not surprising enough.