Former West Indies bowler Ian Bradshaw believes WI skipper Jason Holder would be better-suited batting higher up the order but insists the team must solve its stability issues first.
Holder, the top-ranked Test all-rounder in the world, typically bats at 8th. So far, the majority of his contributions have been with the ball, but he has shown he can do plenty of damage for the team with the bat as well.
In fact, his highest score of 202 unbeaten came just last year against England but the player is yet to demonstrate a level of high consistency with the willow. Bradshaw insists the player’s improvement should be a process.
“I’ve said before he needs to move up the order, eighth and so forth was too low and that was based on the facts, when you look at how well he was batting and his average compared to the rest of the batting unit. He was one of better batsmen so he is a wasted talent batting at eight,” Bradshaw told the Mason and Guest Radio program.
“Ideally I’d like to see him get to six. I believe he has the talent, but if it’s a gradual process then I don’t have a problem with it. It depends on the balance and structure of the team,” he added.
“What we must do is to get our top five in the order correct. So that a guy like Jason, Dowrich, and so forth, they can come and build on strong starts. We are not going to win games when we are 60 for 4 in Test matches consistently. So, those are the critical things we must put together.”