Mark Richardson: Rotation policy a mistake

The Black Caps found out yesterday what life is like without Chris Cairns.

Without the hitting power of Cairns, or even Jacob Oram or Andre Adams, they don't have a six-hitter. The top five, then, need to come to the party and that's what they did yesterday.

In many ways, that's how it should be and the future strength of this side could be the top five because it's littered with good players. John Bracewell even had the luxury yesterday of being able to leave out Lou Vincent, normally an automatic selection.

But the landscape is different now without Cairns and Oram, who added balance to the side, and the Black Caps need to take extra bowling into a match.

This means that a top batsman could miss out. While it's a healthy situation to have so many vying for a spot, it could quickly become unhealthy if Bracewell adopted a rotational policy.

If he experiments too much, he could end up doing a John Mitchell by the time of the World Cup.

Batsmen need consistency, not rotation, because they need to know their role and need to get comfortable with that role.

For me, Vincent has clinched one of the opening spots, while Jamie How and Nathan Astle are probably vying for the other. Astle holds an ace with his bowling.

I really think Stephen Fleming should now give away opening because he should look to play through the middle of the innings, a role at which he's very good.

Scott Styris is a good No 4, while Peter Fulton, or even Astle, could slot in at No 5.

If there is one batsmen who might be feeling a little nervous, it could be Hamish Marshall.

He kept sliding down the order yesterday as they tried to find someone who could hit it over the fence. He ended up at No 8, behind James Franklin, because big hits are not really his thing.

While some people might point to the fact the Black Caps lost their way a little towards the end of their innings and could have totalled more than 300, it needs to be remembered that 288 is a score invariably good enough to win.

That's exactly what transpired last night and I now expect the Black Caps to win the series against the West Indies 4-1.

The problem could be if the guys underestimate the Windies, who have some classy players but are short of a gallop.

We should win comfortably but they are capable of beating us and in Fidel Edwards, they have a particularly exciting talent. The way he hurried up Fleming last night will add some spice to next month's three-test series.

It's a shame Dwayne Bravo is out injured because he is one player the public would have liked to have seen in action - in much the same way as Chris Cairns, really.