Bracewell is in his second spell with the county after five years with New Zealand

Gloucestershire director of cricket John Bracewell has laid the blame for his side's poor showing during the 2010 season at the feet of his batsmen.

Bracewell's side suffered several batting collapses and failed to get out of County Championship Division Two finishing in fifth place.

"A number of our senior batters failed to step up to the plate," Bracewell told BBC Radio Bristol.

"It's unacceptable for your batters to be averaging 66 balls per innings."

And the New Zealander is clear that his players need to work on the mental side of their game rather than their technique.

There's no doubt a number of our batters are experienced enough and have a record good enough to have contributed better to the team performance John Bracewell

"How long do you need to be out there before you go for your big shots?" he said.

"To me it was more about tactical choice and attitude as opposed to the ability to score runs.

"We need to have a more ruthless approach to the way we go about our batting.

"There's no doubt a number of our batters are experienced enough and have a record good enough to have contributed better to the team performance."

The former Kiwi international has highlighted a need to strengthen Gloucestershire's batting line-up but is facing a £200,000 cut in his playing budget for 2011.

"It's not just about recruitment but about surviving for a while," he added.

"Or it's about looking at it in a different way and perhaps the regeneration may have to come through our youth programme.

"And we may have to take a hit while we regenerate with our youngsters."

To make matters worse for Bracewell there are a number of players at the club linked with moves away meaning he does not yet know what cards he has to play with.

"We can't start our recruitment until they give us the go-ahead whether they're staying or going," he said.

"And they've been given until the end of the month."

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