He really should not be taking any reckless chances with his digits by crossing them, though.
He fractured his finger in a warm-up game in Australia last month and it appeared he would miss the early rounds of the tournament.
Back-up wicketkeeper Tom Blundell scored a century during a warm-up game against the West Indies. That will have provided the camp with solace.
But Latham's greatest value to the team is his ability to shore up the middle order. His experience would be sorely missed if he did have to sit a few games out.
But the 27-year-old was leaping about at training and gloving the ball sweetly on Thursday. He still had to get through a training session yesterday, but the signs were positive.
Latham certainly seemed cautiously optimistic.
"The ball was going into the gloves nicely. I didn't manage to take one on the finger," he said.
"We're taking it step by step. Hopefully, the fracture's healed by now and it is more a maintenance thing.
"We've got all the protection around it that we need. Fingers crossed, we cannot take a ball on there [his finger]."
The Black Caps will probably be feeling more at home in Cardiff than Sri Lanka. It has been cold and the playing surface looks lively.
"Looking at the wicket it does look a bit green which will probably suit our seam attack. I think we've played on wickets back home that look similar to that.
"It is still a little bit of an unknown how it will come out [tonight] but again it is about us adapting to the wicket and to the conditions as quick as possible."
Opening batsman Colin Munro is also under an injury cloud. He got struck on the foot and the smart money is on Henry Nicholls opening the batting alongside Martin Guptill.
The Black Caps have played two warm-up matches in the United Kingdom. The results have been mixed.
The six-wicket win against India was well-received but the 91-run loss to the West Indies gave breath to all the doubts.
Trent Boult aside, the attack looked very hittable. There are also some serious question marks around the all-rounder's spot.
Neither Jimmy Neesham nor Colin de Grandhomme fits the bill. One cannot bowl and the other cannot bat. Bring back Chris Harris.
But in Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor and Guptill, the Black Caps have three world-class batsmen.
And Boult and Tim Southee are a formidable duo with the new ball when the conditions suit.
Coach Gary Stead is upbeat about his side's prospects.
"We've had good success against Sri Lanka which is great for us," Stead said.
"But we are certainly not going in expecting to win. We know there is a lot of hard work to be done with every single team we play.
"And they still have some considerable match winners as well that on their day are very, very dangerous players."
Black Caps v Sri Lanka
Cardiff, tonight, 9.30pm
Black Caps: Martin Guptill, Henry Nicholls, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham, Jimmy Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee,
Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult, Matt Henry, Tom Blundell, Colin Munro, Ish Sodhi.
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne, Dhananjaya de Silva, Nuwan Pradeep, Avishka Fernando, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Kusal Mendis, Jeevan
Mendis, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Milinda Siriwardana, Lahiru Thirimanne, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay.
World Cup
Upcoming games
Today: New Zealand v Sri Lanka, 9.30pm, Cardiff
Tomorrow: Afghanistan v Australia, 12.30am, Bristol
Bangladesh v South Africa, 9.30pm, The Oval
