Should West Indies consider playing another batsman as a keeper?

Looking at the current West Indies XI, it looks very weak what with the keeper Denesh Ramdin at 7 who really isn't producing the goods in this Lords test match either with the gloves when he is keeping wicket nor with the bat when batting. Then there is their bowling attack which lacks the depth in terms of consistent wicket-taking ability with a bits and pieces player like Darren Sammy as part of their specialist 4 man seam attack. Anyway, I personally believe that in the absence of a genuine all-rounder who can bat at number 6 and bowl well as part of a 5 man bowling attack, the West Indies should seriously look at dropping their current specialist keeper who isn't really doing much to help their team and look at converting one of the specialist batsmen into a keeper similar to what England did in the 1990's when Alec Stewart performed that role for England when England then had no specialist all-rounder available to them in the test match format. I believe that one such candidate in the current West Indies squad who can fill this Alec Stewart type role is Darren Bravo, and by dropping Ramdin from the playing XI, the West Indies can then have the luxury of playing an extra specialist batsman to strengthen their current batting if the conditions are like those at Lords in this current test match or they can play an extra specialist bowler if the conditions are like those on the subcontinent.

This is a West Indies XI that I have in mind that would have looked stronger in terms of batting for this Lords test match :-

1) Adrian Barath
2) Kieran Powell
3) Kirk Edwards
4) Darren Bravo (keeper)
5) Shivnarine Chanderpaul
6) Marlon Samuels
7) Narsinghe Deonarine
8) Darren Sammy
9) Kemar Roach
10)Fidel Edwards
11)Shannon Gabriel

May not be a very bad idea, considering both Baugh and Ramdin haven't been consistent with the gloves or the bat for many years now.
Don't think Bravo would be the candidate though. I'd rather have Lendl Simmons doing the job and a run in the side for him with this responsibility, with him coming down the order may not be a bad try.
Full side.
Chris Gayle.
Adrian Barath/Kieran Powell/Kraigg Brathwaite.
Kirk Edwards (Captain).
Darren Bravo.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
Lendl Simmons (WK).
Dwayne Bravo.
Andre Russell.
Ravi Rampaul.
Sunil Narine/Shane Shillingford/Devendra Bishoo.
Kemar Roach.

Gabriel could come in for Russell if needed, and in fact one of the spots could go to an additional spinner as well, on helpful conditions.

That side would have balance and tallent. Roach and Russell/Gabriel could bowl fast, Rampaul though not express could generate speed as well as movement, and Bravo the elder can be a very effective 4th seamer. All of the spinners, particularly Bishoo and Narine are pretty good as well.
With Russell coming in at 8, they bat long, Rampaul in fact could be one of the better number 9s in the world.
But for all that to happen, the WI board and the team management has to get some sense into their heads.

If there was somebody good enough then that is definitely an option. But I'm not sure Simmons or any other good enough batter is up to full days in the field at Test level. Having said that Baugh and Ramdin are both poor - Baugh is a decent 'keeper but would probably bat 10 for England, while Ramdin can bat inconsistently but is a poor to average 'keeper at this level.

msp83 wrote:May not be a very bad idea, considering both Baugh and Ramdin haven't been consistent with the gloves or the bat for many years now.
Don't think Bravo would be the candidate though. I'd rather have Lendl Simmons doing the job and a run in the side for him with this responsibility, with him coming down the order may not be a bad try.
Full side.
Chris Gayle.
Adrian Barath/Kieran Powell/Kraigg Brathwaite.
Kirk Edwards (Captain).
Darren Bravo.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
Lendl Simmons (WK).
Dwayne Bravo.
Andre Russell.
Ravi Rampaul.
Sunil Narine/Shane Shillingford/Devendra Bishoo.
Kemar Roach.

Gabriel could come in for Russell if needed, and in fact one of the spots could go to an additional spinner as well, on helpful conditions.

That side would have balance and tallent. Roach and Russell/Gabriel could bowl fast, Rampaul though not express could generate speed as well as movement, and Bravo the elder can be a very effective 4th seamer. All of the spinners, particularly Bishoo and Narine are pretty good as well.
With Russell coming in at 8, they bat long, Rampaul in fact could be one of the better number 9s in the world.
But for all that to happen, the WI board and the team management has to get some sense into their heads.

Well I was actually thinking about Lendl Simmons first as the candidate for this type of Alec Stewart role. However then I found out that Darren Bravo has done some wicketkeeping as well, so therefore I would have him keeping wicket and play another batsman like a Narsinghe Deonarine or a Kieran Pollard at number 7.

Darren Bravo is one of the brightest batting tallents to have emerged from the West Indies in recent times, and before he finds himself comfortably settled in international cricket, I don't think it will be good idea to add keeping responsibilities on to him.
I feel Simmons might just be a better bat than either Pollard or Deonarine.

msp83 wrote:Darren Bravo is one of the brightest batting tallents to have emerged from the West Indies in recent times, and before he finds himself comfortably settled in international cricket, I don't think it will be good idea to add keeping responsibilities on to him.
I feel Simmons might just be a better bat than either Pollard or Deonarine.

Well being a specialist opener in the longer format of the game at either test or in a domestic first class level, Simmons should be technically better than either Pollard or Deonarine. However I believe that Deonarine is a good choice to bat at number 6 or 7 should the West Indies want to use a Alec Stewart type of keeper, as Deonarine is one of the more promising younger batsmen in the Carribean since he plays for the same regional team as Shiv Chanderpaul so therefore he must be consistently learning about the dark arts of the batting trade from him.