ADAM Wheater will play as a specialist batsman in Hampshire’s next Specsavers County Championship match - for the first since Michael Bates was released.

Wheater responded to being dropped this week by hitting 147 in the Second Eleven Championship against Glamorgan at Neath.

He will play as a top-order batsman at Durham on Sunday due to Liam Dawson’s inclusion in England’s squad for the T20 international against Sri Lanka at The Ageas Bowl on Tuesday.

It is where Hampshire coach Dale Benkenstein sees Wheater’s long-term future with the county.

“Behind the stumps Adam’s not what we want, but his batting’s really improved,” said Benkenstein. “This is something I’ve mentioned to him.

“He still feels he’s a keeper-batter, but I want to give Lewis [McManus] the opportunity to see whether the energy and enthusiasm he has will help the team.

“I rate Wheats’ batting but I’ve given him a very long run as a keeper and don’t feel he’s improved in a few areas I think are very important.

“You have to be the fittest and the guy that’s giving energy, but although his glove work is very good he flags off quite early.

“These are things I’ve told him. It’s quite a tough thing to change because he’s a laid-back type of person doing the hardest job in the game.

“But as a batter he’s still very young with a huge career ahead of him.

“Our top order are quite short of runs and he’s got a real chance of making his way in this team as a batter.

“If he does that he’s at a great age to put all his energy into that. He’s got to work hard at what he wants to do and where he wants to go.”

Benkenstein, who arrived at Hampshire a few months after Bates was controversially axed at the end of the 2013 season, was happy with McManus’s performance as Somerset amassed 474-8 declared.

“Lewis is not the finished article but he’s improving and is the sort of character we need,” he added.