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.

Sri Lanka completed a series sweep of the West Indies Friday winning the second Test by 164 runs at Galle. Needing to make 297 or bat out 93 overs on the final day, the West Indies folded for 132 all out in 56.1 overs.

West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite is warning his team not to get carried away by last week’s victory over Bangladesh in Chattogram but to try to improve for the second Test that begins in Dhaka tomorrow (tonight Caribbean time).

Trailing by a mammoth 171 runs on first innings, the West Indies rallied to a remarkable three-wicket victory thanks to a double century from debutant Kyle Mayers and sterling contributions with the bat from fellow debutant Nkrumah Bonner and Joshua Da Silva. Spinners Jomel Warrican and Rahkeem Cornwall also played their part with the ball.

Understandably, the players are still euphoric over the improbable victory but Brathwaite said it was now important to remember that everything starts anew for the second Test.

"The biggest thing is not to get carried away. We are happy with the win, but we know we start from zero,” he warned.

“It is one of the things that the coach has stressed on in the practice sessions. Guys are working hard. For me, to them is to stay disciplined and stick to your plans both as a bowling and a batting unit.”

"We as a team don't want to get too far ahead. We have five days of Test cricket to play. We are very happy to have won the first Test. We want to buckle down. Victory has meant a lot for us. The guys are very proud of winning the first Test, but we look forward to the next five days."

The victorious captain said the focus must now be on playing even better cricket once play begins in Dhaka.

"We can improve on our first innings score to help us set the game up better. We did well in the second innings. We have to be a little sharper in the field in periods when there's probably been a partnership. We can be a little tighter," he said.