Daryl Mitchell says his Worcestershire opening partner Brett D'Oliveira "has all the ingredients" to occupy the role long term and can learn from his up and down experiences during his first full year going in first.
Mitchell bounced back in impressive fashion during the second half of the season after a challenging start to the campaign to top 1,000 runs.
But it was the other way around for D'Oliveira who made a superb start to 2016 – including a double hundred against Glamorgan – but then had to battle for runs during the second part of the summer.
Mitchell said: "He has got to learn from the good things, from what he did really well at the start of the season and perhaps learn from some of the mistakes in that dip in form he had.
"That is part of evolving as a cricket, particularly as a batter. You've got to keep learning and keep striving to do better.
"Brett showed he is more than capable of nailing down that position at the top of the order and he was absolutely unbelievable in those first six or seven games.
"Hopefully he can look back on that with a lot of pride and then learn from some of the mistakes he has made and then come again next year and try and maintain that sort of form for a longer period."
Mitchell added: "Has he a long term future as an opener? Definitely. Technically, Dolly is pretty good. When he is playing well, he moves his feet pretty well and plays pretty straight.
"He is very quick at getting onto the bad ball as well which is important for the way he plays. He is fantastic between the wickets.
"He has got all the ingredients there. It is just about trying to maintain his form throughout an entire season.
"You look to get 1,000 runs and average 40 and if Brett can aim to target something similar and achieve that, then he has got a long future at the top of the order."
