Suruj Ragoonath reckons that Cricket West Indies (CWI) needs to have a clearer fitness policy which should not be relaxed for anyone.
The former West Indies Test opener made this disclosure on Tuesday while appearing on Barbados radio show, Mason and Guest where he also called for dialogue between Shimron Hetmyer and CWI on the issue.
Hetmyer, who has been regarded by many as one of the leading lights in West Indies cricket, lost his international retainer contract and was left out of the West Indies Test squad for the upcoming South Africa series.
The 25-year-old left-hander has also been the topic of much debate following his fitness standards, most notably failing a fitness test by CWI before passing it two days later.
Hetmyer averages 36 in 50-over cricket but hasn’t featured since January 2020.
He has not played a Test since November 2019 and averages just under 28 in the format.
The Guyanese opted out of West Indies’ tour of England and Bangladesh over COVID-19 concerns and played T20Is in New Zealand before being ruled out of the white-ball phase of Sri Lanka’s tour of the Caribbean after failing to meet the fitness standards set by CWI.
According to Ragoonath, “I think the West Indies Cricket Board themselves have not set clear policies if you ask me. I think the guidelines in terms of fitness has been very blurred because I find it very difficult to understand that one can say Chris Gayle is fit and [Rahkeem] Cornwall is fit and Hetmyer and Roston Chase are not fit.
It’s either you are fit or you are not fit and if there is a standard then you meet that standard it doesn’t matter who you are, you should not be selected and if that is your criteria then you got to stick to your criteria and I think mixed signals have been sent to Hetmyer.”
The 53-year-old Trinidadian reasoned that there must be some clarity and some definition of what Hetmyer has to do to be selected.
“Or else we risk losing him to all the different T20 leagues he possibly can get into and pretty soon might just forget about West Indies Cricket.”
Hetmyer recently turned out for the Delhi Capitals in the curtailed Indian Premier League and was selected as a replacement player for Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League. He will also turn out for the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League later this year.
The right-handed Ragoonath labeled the situation as rather unfortunate but proposed that there could be something else happening between Hetmyer and CWI that the public is not aware of. He detailed, “What I would like to see however, is that Hetmyer should not be just left to himself. I am assuming this hasn’t happened and if it hasn’t happened then it should take place. There needs to be a serious discussion between the West Indies Cricket authorities and Shimron Hetmyer, he is such a wonderful talent and it would be a shame to see him just waste away.”
CWI’s Chairman of Selectors, Roger Harper has admitted to being concerned about the future of Hetmyer while noting that CWI is committed to partnering with him to ensure he is able to get the best out of his potential in the coming years.
