There is more concern, however, over the fitness of Henry Williams who trod on the ball during a training session yesterday and has a bruised instep.
It was Dawson's initial thrust in Kurunegala which destroyed Sri Lanka A's first innings in what was the decisive second Test of the unofficial series against Sri Lanka A.
Much depends on the state of the pitch, however, whether the tourists decide to opt for three seamers and two spinners for the opening game in the slogs.
The South African A side had a hard work out at Galle Esplanade yesterday while Sri Lanka A trained at Matara. Graham Ford, the A Team coach, expressed satisfaction after the session and said the only real concern was a niggling foot injury suffered by Williams.
While Loots Bosman and Herman Bakkes are expected to sit out the opening game with a decision being made in the morning about the 12th man, the SA A team are enormously powerful in batting, a fact which has the Sri Lankans worried.
They have brought in three new players with Sanjeewa de Silva, a tourist in South Africa in March and April but who did not play a game, added to strengthen the bowling. A left-arm fast-medium bowler he replaces Eric Upasantha from the team which drew the third Test.
Al-rounders Ruchira Polliyagura and Anil Redeegammanagedara are the other replacements.
Although the South African squad took the day off on Tuesday they made ue of the gymnasium facilities at their Galle hotel as part of the team's preparation for the slogs.
With Herschelle Gibbs already back in South Africa the selectors will need to examine their options with the possibility of Derek Crookes being used higher up the batting order.
There are conflicting reasons why the opening game has been moved to Matara by Sri Lanka officials. While the fax from BCCSL claim ``monsoonal rains'' locals say that Matara is also affected by the same weather patterns. The two towns are about 40km apart, with the picturesque Galle Esplanade venue, where Kepler Wessels' team opened their 1993 tour, being upgraded to meet with ICC demands regarding drainage. Three of the four games played in Galle during the Independence Cup were washed out because of the late start to the south/west monsoon.
Teams
South Africa A (possible): Mark Bruyns, Martin van Jaarsveld, HD Ackerman, Ashwell Prince, Dale Benkenstein (capt), Derek Crookes, Nicky Boje, Nic Pothas, Alan Dawson, Gary Gilder, Henry Williams, Claude Henderson.
Sri Lanka A: Dulip Samaraweera (capt), Avishka Gunawardena, Upeka Fernando, Lanka de Silva, Manoj Mendis, Malintha Warnapura, Indika de Saram, Sanjeewa Silva, Ruchira Palliyagura, Anil Redeegammanagadara, Damika Hettiarachchi.
Reserves: Indika Gallage, Ruchira Perera.
This report is supported by Lanka Internet Services