Veteran cricket commentator Guyanese Joseph `Reds’ Perreira said yesterday that if not handled properly, West Indies cricket could lose the talented Shimron Hetmyer.
Perreira was giving his reaction to the fact that Hetmyer again failed to find favour with the West Indies selection panel which selected a 30-man squad for the upcoming two test series against South Africa in St Lucia.
He pointed out that Hetmyer did not make the 26- man practice squad in Antigua and now does not make a practice squad of 30 players.
“I think it’s really hard on the young man. I have been disappointed in the past with his recklessness, but I got the impression that in the IPL (Indian Premier League) he was starting to be a lot more focused and took on the responsibility in the few matches that he played.”
Perreira questioned whether the West Indies selectors had ever sat down and had a talk with Hetmyer.
“I certainly think that the selectors need to reach out to Hetmeyer. He doesn’t deserve this and I think that if you don’t want to lose him, it’s like a parent who has got a child that they feel is a little wayward, they will be making a mistake to put him out of the house. Let him stay in the family, let him feel the warmth, let him earn his place back and I think basically, if they keep leaving him out, he is going to turn into a franchise T20 player only and lost to West Indies cricket and we would have lost a talent.”
Of the large squad Perreira feels that the 30 players is to really cover all the necessary practice needs.
“They are going to play a three-day practice game and a four-day practice game here in St Lucia before the first test on the 10th (June). I think South Africa has asked for a two-day game but I think that in fact might be hosted at the Mindoo Phillip ground, the old ground before the Darren Sammy was in fact built.”
Gabriel and back-to-back
Perreira said he was happy with the fast bowling complement but said the selectors should not play fast bowler Shannon Gabriel in back-to-back test matches.
“I’m happy to see that so many young fast bowlers have been included. I don’t believe it’s fair to ask Gabriel to play two back-to- back test matches on a surface that he is going to enjoy, so I’m really hoping that the bowling staff will get him really up to speed in much better shape than he was when we saw him playing against Sri Lanka in Antigua where he didn’t seem to have rhythm, he didn’t seem to have pace and maybe he can only give you five overs of serious pace. I think basically at his age, after having the operation on the ankle some years ago, he is bothered by that and I think it is unfair to ask him to play back-to-back test matches. You have young fast bowlers include them in and it’s going to be interesting.”
Recall of Brooks, Chase and Thomas
Perreira also said that he was happy to see the inclusion of Shamarh Brooks, Roston Chase and Oshane Thomas, who missed out on CWI Retainer Contracts, in the squad.
“I’m very happy that although they didn’t get contracts, Brooks, Chase and Thomas are back.
“I’m also happy to see that they have brought in some cover for John Campbell in Kieran Powell. Shane Mosely has had his chances. He needs to do a little better in the practice games while Cottoy (Kerron) is as good a player as Walsh (Haydn).
Permaul and Motie
While he was pleased that Veersammy Permaul was getting another chance, Perreira said he would have wanted to see Gudakesh Motie getting a look-in.
“They have gone for the experience of Veerasammy Permaul but I would have liked to see Motie also included in that squad. I think it’s very important that the time spent in St Lucia is really one where they are going to push the players very, very hard to try and get them into a very tightly knit unit because they are going to be heavily tested by the South African fast bowling attack that includes the left arm spinner Keshav Maraj who is a quality left-arm spinner,” he said.
“So, it’s going to be an important time for the heroes of Bangladesh to now come and show slate, now come and continue from where they left off, those who got runs against the Sri Lankans. But this is going to be a test of a different level. I don’t know what will happen when we play Pakistan because they are going to be a test too to our batting and we can expect that may be we will have to rely on changes to the batting order. Only time will tell.
