Aaron Redmond has cause to be more than a little miffed at his dropping from the New Zealand cricket team.
He was brought into the Black Caps earlier this year because, in the words of the selectors, he could bat time.
It's one thing to bat time in the State Championship, it's another to do so at test level, as all the openers tried by New Zealand in recent years have discovered.
No-one would pretend Redmond, in his seven tests, shaped as the answer to the Black Caps opening problems but, with 299 runs at an average of 23, he was not a total failure, either.
He fell into the category of so many of the openers tried by New Zealand in the past few years - Matthew Bell, 729 runs in 18 tests at 24.30; Craig Cumming, 441 in 11 tests at 25.94; Michael Papps 266 in eight tests at 16.40. Neither a success, nor a failure.
The question is whether Redmond - and Bell, Cumming and Papps, among others - was given a fair go.
Redmond scored 83 and 19 in his last test, against Australia, whose bowling, with due respect, is rather more formidable than that of the West Indies.
The impression was that Redmond was dumped as much for the two brain explosions which led to his dismissals in Adelaide as for his mediocre record.
Martin Crowe was scathing of Redmond, claiming he lacked the technique and the nous to play at test level and the selectors agreed with his assessment.
Well, after Thursday, Crowe could well have said the same thing about Tim McIntosh, Jamie How and Ross Taylor.
McIntosh was brought in because, like Redmond, the selectors said he could bat time. He did to an extent, staying 138min for 34 before, like Redmond, he had a brain explosion and holed out to mid-on.
He was tenacious but not entirely convincing, and his tendency to take his eyes off the short, rising ball - even on a docile pitch - would have been noted by opposition bowlers. It's early days but the jury is out on whether he can make the transition to test level.
Jamie How is a worry. He keeps getting starts and keeps getting out and, with only three half-centuries and an average of 23 in 30 innings, the selectors' patience with him must be wearing thin. He was out on Thursday driving loosely outside the off-stump, typical of too many of his dismissals.
How many tests does it take to ascertain whether an opening batsman is of test quality? There is no definitive answer but the bottom line, at some point, must be runs on the board.
The noted Australian opening pair, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer, had lean starts to their test careers but they kept making big runs in state cricket, kept knocking at the selectors door, and eventually the runs started to come at test level.
The reality is all the New Zealand openers in recent years have had technical problems - Cumming played across his pads and was often an lbw candidate; Bell was at sea against the swinging ball against England last summer; and Papps had problems against the short ball.
All batsmen are vulnerable early in their innings but it is the ability to work through those difficult periods which separates the test batsmen from the good first-class players.
It may be the New Zealand selectors have to lower their sights and persist with openers who average in the early to mid-20s until another Mark Richardson or John Wright emerges from the pack. On that count, Redmond can consider himself unlucky.
Taylor gets out to some agricultural shots at times but he is a free scorer and he tends to be given some licence.
As for McIntosh and How, they need to show they can bat time and score well - not just 20s and 30s - at test level or else the musical chairs at the top of the order may continue.
