'Bonner caught between two minds' -Former Barbados wicketkeeper-batsman believes decisiveness will help batsman at crease
Former Barbados wicketkeeper-batsman turned analyst Jamal Smith believes struggling West Indies batter Nkurmah Bonner could benefit from some decisiveness at the crease.
The 35-year-old Bonner has earned plenty of accolades for gritty performances for the West Indies since making his debut against Bangladesh in 2021. The player has, however, struggled vor vorm ov late, managing just 65 in his last 5 innings and has been hit twice off short pithed bowling in the last year.
Bonner has been ruled out of the current Test series against Australia after being struck on the back of the helmet by a Cameron Green bouncer. Despite being allowed to continue batting for another few hours Bonner is now under the team’s concussion protocol.
In light of the latest incident, questions have been raised regarding the player susceptibility to pace bowling.
“Short bowling is simple yet complex, you are either looking to attack the ball or defend it. I think. In simple parlance either you are hooking or you ducking. I think either Bonner is caught between two minds,” Smith told the Mason and Guest radio program.
“…He takes his eyes off the ball. We’ve seen him now being struck. If we’re being honest, we can pinpoint some of the technical deficiencies our batters have,” he added.
“We can’t knock Bonner because he’s done reasonably well up until this point, but you know he’s languid, he always looks little bit slow on the ball and these hard bouncy surfaces will show that up.”
Bonner has recorded two 100s and three 50s for the West Indies in 15 matches so far.
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Windies women eye vital win against Bangladesh to keep semi-final hopes alive at T20 World Cup
After an impressive six-wicket win over Scotland, West Indies women will seek to build on that momentum when they take on Bangladesh in a crucial encounter that could define their campaign at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
The Caribbean side will enter Thursday’s contest knowing that another win would keep their semi-final hopes alive, as they currently sit in third position on two points, two behind leaders South Africa and England on four points each.
The first ball is 9:00am Jamaica time.
West Indies’ victory over Scotland was a much-needed confidence boost for the team, especially after a crushing 10-wicket loss to South Africa in their opening match. The win not only lifted their spirits but also boosted their net run rate, a key factor in determining the semi-final spots should multiple teams finish level on points.
Assistant coach Ryan Austin emphasized the Hayley Matthews-led team’s readiness to handle what promises to be a tricky challenge, as Bangladesh bowlers, particularly their spinners, have proven to be formidable opponents.
“The team is pretty prepared. We obviously know that Bangladesh is basically a spin-based unit, but with our philosophies, we are more focused on what we can control. Having said that, we still have that element of power within our batting that could counter the spin as well,” Austin said in a pre-game press conference.
“If you look at the wicket, they are playing pretty slow at the moment. South Africa today (Wednesday) actually had a good total on the wicket, and if you watch how they batted, they actually used their feet a lot to the spin. So we are looking to obviously go into the game with that sort of temperament mindset with respect to their spin bowling attack as well. Sharjah has almost kind of a two-paced kind of wicket because during the day it's very low and slow, but in the evenings it kind of changes and comes alive,” he added.
Austin exuded confidence in his team’s batting prowess, with the likes of Matthews, Stafanie Taylor, Deandra Dottin, and Shemaine Campbelle expected to play pivotal roles, especially with the group being poised for a tight finish.
Though those proverbial big guns are yet to really fire, Austin believes their true potential should come to the fore in Thursday’s game, as well as the decisive fixture against England. West Indies currently have a positive net run rate of 1.154, only bettered by leaders South Africa, who have 1.527.
“If you look at how our group is set up, net run-rate is really going to be a big factor later down, especially, if we win both games against Bangladesh and England. So one of the things that we really have to look at is how we go about executing, especially in this game against Bangladesh. So our game plan is to at least probably both first and then try to get to our target as fast as possible,” Austin reasoned.