(CMC) – Chief selector Roger Harper has admitted to being concerned about the future of Shimron Hetmyer, after the talented stroke-maker this week lost his Cricket West Indies central retainer contract.
The 24-year-old Hetmyer was one of 11 players not retained by CWI for the period beginning July 1, following a difficult last 12 months which saw him feature in only a smattering of games for the Caribbean side.
However, Harper said CWI were committed to partnering with the Guyanese left-hander to ensure he was able to get the best out of his potential in coming years.
“Naturally when you have that sort of potential available, we want to see it reach the sort of level that it is capable of reaching,” Harper told an online media conference yesterday.
“So yes, we are concerned. Yes, we will continue to work with Shimron and yes, we will try to get him to give the sort of focus that we think is required for him to maximise his potential.”
Hetmyer was fast-tracked into the West Indies senior squad after leading West Indies Under-19s to the capture of the ICC Youth World Cup in Bangladesh in 2016.
He subsequently made his debut in all three formats the following year, having the biggest impact in One-Day Internationals where he lashed the first of five career hundreds in only his third game.
Hetmyer averages 36 in ODIs but has not played since being dropped after scores of six and eight in two matches against Ireland last year January.
He has not played a Test – where he averages just under 28 – since November, 2019 after opting out of last year’s tour of England and the tour of Bangladesh earlier this yer due to COVID-19 concerns, and has not featured in a T20 International since the tour of New Zealand last November.
To compound matters, Hetmyer was ruled out of the white-ball phase of the recent Sri Lanka series after failing to attain the minimum fitness standards set out by CWI.
However, Harper said he still backed Hetmyer to become one of the best in the world, but warned it would require improved focus to reach those heights.
“I still think that Shimron is the sort of player with the ability to be a world class player in every format going forward but I think that needs a particular kind of focus and that’s what we want to see from Shimron,” Harper stressed.
“We just think he needs to be a little more focussed and try to maximise his skills he’s been blessed with as best as he could.”
Harper assured though that Hetmyer was not completely lost to the CWI retainer system.
“If you lose your CWI contract, then you fall onto the franchise contract so it’s not that you’re completely out of the system and left to your own devices,” he noted.
There has been some criticism aimed at CWI for their axing of several players from the contracts list, especially when COVID-19 restricted the number of games which could be played during the eligibility period.
However, Harper argued that most players featured in the minimum number of games required for assessment but Hetmyer had been thwarted by his lack of fitness.
“In Hetmyer’s case, Hetmyer had the opportunity to play the required number of games but his fitness issues did not allow him to,” Harper said.
Hetmyer has continued to ply his trade in the lucrative Indian Premier League where he turned out for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2019 and Delhi Capitals since.
