Shimron Hetmyer

The Knight Riders won the toss and put the Amazon Warriors into bat and despite Shimron Hetmyer’s 50, they were able to restrict their opponents to 142-7. However, the Amazon Warriors were to produce an even better bowling performance taking wickets at regular intervals to get their campaign off to a winning start. 

The Amazon Warriors began their innings well with Chandrapaul Hemraj striking two sixes but he was caught at short third man once Sunil Narine entered the attack.

The Amazon Warriors then sprung a surprise with the hard-hitting Odean Smith entering at number three to maximise the PowerPlay overs. Smith justified his promotion with 24 runs from 15 balls but once he fell the Amazon Warriors innings lost impetus leaving them struggling at the halfway stage on 57-3.

When Isuru Udana removed Shoaib Malik for a laboured two runs from 12 balls and Akeal Hosein got rid of Mohammed Hafeez shortly afterwards it looked as if Guyana had given themselves too much to do.

 Captain Nicholas Pooran walked in at a surprising number seven with five overs remaining and tried to up the ante with Shimron Hetmyer but Pooran then fell to a stunning Darren Bravo in-out-in catch on the boundary.

 Vice-captain Hetmyer had anchored the innings throughout the flurry of wickets and he cashed in at the death with some lusty blows to score the first 2021 Hero CPL 50 and ensure Guyana ended on a tricky total to chase.

 Despite losing the wickets of Lendl Simmons and Colin Munro in the PowerPlay the Knight Riders were ahead of the game at the end of the 6 overs.

 The turning point came with the introduction of Imran Tahir as he removed both Sunil Narine and Bravo in quick succession and the Amazon Warriors then continued to take wickets at regular intervals.  Smith put the game in the balance when he forced Tim Seifert into a false shot to leave the Knight Riders on 78-5 after 12 overs and it was to go from bad to worse for the Knight Riders when Romario Shepherd got Kieron Pollard to nick behind to Pooran for two runs.

 Late hitting from Dinesh Ramdin kept the Knight Riders in the game but when he fell to a smart catch from Malik all hope was lost.

Scores: S.Hetmyer 142-9, Odean Smith 24. Smith 2-10 beat Trinbago Knight Riders 133-9 (Ramdin 28, Siefert 24; Narine 2/17, Hosein 2/17) by 9 runs. 

Earlier this month, CWI West Indies released the names of 18 players who were offered retainer contracts for the different formats of the game. Kyle Mayers, Joshua Da Silva and Nkrumah Bonner were all rewarded with contracts after standout performances against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka earlier this year.

However, Shimron Hetmyer, Keemo Paul, Veerasammy Permaul and Romario Shepherd, were not among the players who will be retained for the year July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022.

Subsequently, the GCB wrote to the CWI requesting the criteria for being offered contracts as it began what it says was an investigation into why the players were overlooked by CWI.

Asked about the matter, Harper, while speaking on the Mason and Guest show in Barbados last week revealed that GCB President Bissoondyal Singh and Vice President Hilbert Foster, Directors at CWI, were in attendance at the CWI Board of Directors meeting where the players that were being considered for contracts were discussed. He said they were fully aware of which players were being offered contracts before the names were made public.

“The opportunity was there to ask as many questions as they needed to so I am not quite sure what’s going on,” Harper said.

Harper’s statements prompted a charged response from the GCB.

“We write to you with great astonishment and much disappointment on the media statements by the Chairman of Selectors of the CWI as they relate to the issue of the non-retainer by CWI of male Guyanese cricketers,” the letter said.

“We at GCB thought that we were doing the proper and decent thing by first, writing to CWI requesting the criteria which were used for the retention and/or non-retention of our male cricketers, prior to making any public statements on their non-retention.

“It is most unfortunate and quite disappointing that while we are still patiently awaiting the submission of the said criteria, the Chairman of Selectors thought it best, whether on his own accord or with the support of the CWI, to make the comments in the media that two of our Directors were present at the meeting when the matter of retention and/or non-retention was discussed.”

The GCB said they believe Harper ought to have been aware that there was no "handing over of the mantle" to the current directors of GCB by the two former directors" and it was the first meeting of the CWI that the two new directors attended and the issue of the retention of the players was more in the form of a report after the decision was already made.

Additionally, the GCB said, the two directors could not have commented and/or usefully participated in the "report" in relation to the retention of the players without the two directors knowing or being fully apprised of the selection and/or non-selection criteria.

 “Like the Chairman of Selectors, GCB also has its own responsibility to the public and will, therefore, following the trend set by the said Chairman, to make this letter available to the media,” the GCB said.

“We are still patiently awaiting the criteria and report on the non-retention of our male cricketers and we fervently hope that CWI sees it best to provide those to us urgently rather than to have one of its officers (the Chairman), whether on a frolic of his own or not, unleash his unnecessary and unfortunate wrath on the GCB. “

The West Indies drew the ODI series 1-1 before enjoying a 2-1 victory in the T20s.

“Yes, Hetmyer was available. He did send through an email to Jimmy (Adams), our director of cricket, stating that he was available for the tour,” Haynes said.

“We have a new captain in Shai Hope and he was very happy to express his views about the type of camaraderie we had in the team in South Africa.

We as selectors saw some commitment and a real change in our approach to one-day cricket and we thought it’s only fair to stick with those guys at this time,” he added.

The left-hander, currently representing the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL), last represented the regional side in the ODI format in 2021 against Australia. His last T20I appearance for the Windies came in August last year against New Zealand.

Although initially selected for the T20 World Cup in Australia between October and November last year, he was replaced in the squad after failing to board a rescheduled flight to Australia.

Haynes, however, made it clear that this is by no means the end for Hetmyer or any player who wasn’t selected.

“I must say, though, that I want the public to know that nobody has been ruled out of selection for the West Indies. We do not have the depth of players to rule out anybody for selection,” Haynes added.

The West Indies will take on the UAE in three ODIs from June 5-9 before moving over to Zimbabwe for the World Cup qualifiers from June 18-July 9.

In the same breath, the iconic former batsman fondly referred to as the ‘Master Blaster,’ believes any failure by the player to do so would be a great loss not just to the West Indies, but the sport as a whole.

The 24-year-old Guyanese-born batsman has been in the spotlight recently, after failing to secure an international retainer contract from Cricket West Indies (CWI).  Long-touted as one of the region’s premier talents, Hetmyer has had a disappointing period, missing out on several appearances for the West Indies and twice failing a fitness test.

“You’ve got to put in the work [because] if you take half measure, then you are going to get half measure results for sure. Shortcuts in this particular profession are of no substance and I am not sure if what I am saying here now will get to him at some point, but the individual is a talented individual and there are times when I see him on the field and he is pretty playful like he is still a kid and he actually has to be a little more mature at this stage now,” Richards told the Antigua Observer.

 “The guy has got too much talent and I think that if this talent goes to waste, it would be a huge loss, not just maybe to himself but to world cricket on a whole,” he added.

Hetmyer, who has played all three formats for the West Indies, last appeared for the team in a T20I series against New Zealand last year.  He has, however, not played One Day International Cricket since January of last year and has not played a Test match since November of 2019.

“If he really wants to make this sport his profession and to get the maximum result that everyone feels he has in him in terms of the talent then he has got to really start looking at himself in the mirror and start to think. I think he is [24 years old] now, so he has got to be serious. When you hear some of the stuff like they fail a fitness test and all that sort of stuff then that is just totally unprofessional.”

With the Warriors desperately needing a result, in their first match on home soil this season, Smith impacted the game decisively at both ends.  Batting first, the Warriors found themselves in deep trouble at 98 for 7 before Smith bludgeoned 42 from 16 and shared in a seventh-wicket partnership of 74 from 27 with Keemo Paul to push the team to a respectable 178 for 8.

At the other end, on the back of a defiant 104 from Brandon King, the Tallawahs seemed poised for an unlikely victory, needing just 20 off the last over.  King got things started off with a 6 but Smith shut the door, taking 2 wickets and effecting a runout for an overall 26 runs. He was named the man of the match.

“I actually had no idea we would have actually gotten that many I was actually thinking let’s get to 140, 150 and we’ll fight but as we saw today it was a fantastic innings from him (Smith), hats off to him,” Hetmyer said of Smith's contribution.

“He played one of the most special innings that I’ve had the pleasure of seeing and he’s one of those guys that anything can happen on a given day.  He’s just one of those special guys.”

 Despite a tricky start with the bat the Amazon Warriors posted an imposing total of 210-7 with fifties for Shimron Hetmyer and Keemo Paul. In reply, the Tallawahs top order succumbed to the bowling of Romario Shepherd with five wickets falling inside the first seven overs.

 A brilliant partnership between Imad Wasim and Fabian Allen saw the Tallawahs recover from 36-5 to 133-6 but the damage caused by those early wickets could not be repaired.

 The Jamaica Tallawahs started brilliantly with the ball, claiming two wickets inside the first over. The first man to go was Hazratullah Zazai who made a two-ball duck on his CPL debut when he cut a ball from Chris Green to Imad Wasim at point. When Saim Ayub edged a ball from Mohammad Amir through to the keeper the score was 7-2 and the Amazon Warriors were in danger of losing the game inside the PowerPlay.

Azam Khan hit a huge six but was dismissed for just seven when he was brilliantly caught by Salman Irshad who claimed a diving effort on the third-man boundary, but from there it was all about the Warriors batting.

Shai Hope made an attractive 25 and shared a 50-run stand with Shimron Hetmyer, but the fireworks really started with Keemo Paul walked to the crease. Hetmyer and Paul put on 99-run stand from just 47 balls with both men passing 50. Paul was dismissed for a career best 57 while Hetmyer made a blistering 60.

 It was left to Romario Shepherd and Dwaine Pretorius to take the Warriors past 200 as they set a target of 211.

It was always going to be a stiff ask but when Romario Shepherd bowled a double wicket maiden it made things very hard for the Tallawahs. Shepherd would go on to finish with figures of 3-7 from his three overs.

 The stand between Allen and Imad was full of attacking shots but with the required rate getting unmanageble there was too much left for them to do. When Imad was dismissed for 63 by Imran Tahir the required rate was up to 20 runs an over.

 Allen fell for 47 and with him any slim hopes of a Tallawahs win departed as the Jamaican side finished on 176 all out.

 Scores: Guyana Amazon Warriors 210/7 (Hetmyer 60, Paul 57; Amir 3-33, Green 2-28) beat Jamaica Tallawahs 176 all out (Imad Wasim 63, Allen 47; Shepherd 3-7, J Sinclair 2-17) by 34 runs

Hetmyer had been dropped by the Windies ahead of an away series against Bangladesh after failing a fitness test and was expected to take his place with the Jaguars on Thursday.

However, according to the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), Hetmyer did not follow the protocol associated with contracted players not on West Indies duties ahead of the game.

“Players who are not on West Indies duties but are contracted to the West Indies are supposed to report to their franchise,” GCB Secretary Anand Sanasie was reported as saying.

“Since returning from West Indies duties he has not reported to the franchise for training … which automatically makes him unavailable,” said Sanasie.

Hetmyer and Windies opener Evin Lewis fell afoul of Windies’ fitness requirements but the team’s chief selector, Roger Harper, had said the Guyanese left-hander was well on his way to getting himself together.

With that in mind, Cricket West Indies had said Hetmyer and Lewis would have been retested in another two weeks.

Next week the Jaguars will go to Grenada where they take on the Windward Islands Volcanoes and Sanasie believes whenever Hetmyer makes himself available, he will be [art of the team.

“We wish him well. Once he has made himself available he would be selected to play for the franchise,” said Sanasie.

The exclusion due to falling short of the fitness requirement is a repeat such issue for Hetmyer, who also missed out on selection in February of last year for a tour match against the same opponents.  The 24-year-old Guyanese batsman has been in splendid form of late, only yesterday, crafting a masterful century to push Guyana Jaguars to the semi-final of the Regional Super50 competition.

According to Cricket West Indies (CWI) stipulations, players must pass a battery of tests that measure stamina and endurance, called the Yoyo test, before being eligible for selection.

The test is, however, not without controversy as some players who do not make the 40 grade in the yoyo test are given exemptions, at times much to the annoyance of those players who fail to meet the grade.

Hetmyer will be joined on the sidelines by fast bowlers Sheldon Cottrell and Oshane Thomas, along with West Indies vice-captain and all-rounder Roston Chase.  Cottrell and Hetmyer were among 12 players who declined to take part in the team’s tour of Bangladesh earlier this month, after citing health and safety concerns.

Earlier this week, former Cricket West Indies (CWI) president Dave Cameron was reported as saying that Hetmyer should replace Pollard as the team’s new white-ball captain.  In further clarifying the issue, however, Cameron has since explained that he believes his administration would have done more to groom the player to take over the post by now.

With Hetmyer plagued by issues of inconsistency and fitness over the last few years, however, Ambrose does not believe having to handle the pressure of the captaincy would be the right move for the batsman at this time.

“I certainly wouldn't (make him captain).  Hetmyer is a young man and could be a future captain in the making but I think Hetmyer needs to get his game in order first,” Ambrose told the Mason and Guest radio program.

“He needs to get his game in order.  It’s too big a responsibility for the young man at this moment when he’s not playing as well,” he added.

“For me, I would like to see Hetmyer focus on his batting.  First and foremost get it right and then who knows what can happen a few years later but I wouldn’t give it to him now, being the captain is added pressure.”

In ODI cricket, Hetmyer is currently averaging 35.29 and has played 47 matches for the regional team.

Hetmyer and Evin Lewis were spectacularly dropped after an announcement they had both failed fitness tests Cricket West Indies selectors had implemented as a requirement for selection.

There is still no recall for Lewis, who had, not long before, overcome poor form in typically destructive fashion.

The squad also includes a recall for Andre Russell and Oshane Thomas.

Allrounder Russell, 31,  hasn't played for the Caribbean side since pulling up short midway through the 50-over World Cup in June 2019. However, he has taken part in other matches, most notably in the Bangladesh Premier League in December and January

Russell is a two-time ICC T20 World Cup winner, having played a crucial role in the triumphs back in 2012 in Sri Lanka and 2016 in India. He has successfully completed the Cricket West Indies (CWI) return-to-play assessment programme under the supervision of CWI Medical Team in his native Jamaica. He has so far played 47 T20Is for the West Indies.

Fast bowler Thomas, who turned 23 earlier this week, is selected after making a full recovery from a car accident in Jamaica recently. Additionally, wicket-keeper/batsman Shai Hope has been included alongside left-arm spinner Fabian Allen.

Commenting on the squad, CWI lead selector Roger Harper said: “Shimron Hetmyer missed out on selection for the ODI squad. He has since attained the required fitness level, becoming available for selection and has been included.

"Andre Russell is back in the squad, having been cleared by the medical panel and successfully completing CWI’s return-to-play protocol. Andre will add potency to every department of the team. Oshane Thomas appears to be focused and raring to go. He will add pace and penetration to the bowling unit.”

Harper added: “Shai Hope provides an opening option and cover as a back-up wicket-keeper also. Fabian Allen returns from the injury he sustained in the series against Afghanistan late last year. He will provide a spin-bowling option as well as adding depth to the batting group.”

Looking ahead to the T20I matches, Harper outlined that he will have one eye on the ICC T20 World Cup to be played in Australia later this year. West Indies are the defending champions and the only team to lift the trophy twice.

“I look forward to the team building on its recent performances and winning the T20 series in Sri Lanka. This is another opportunity for the team to build on its strengths and identify areas that need improvement while continuing the process of building up with the aim of peaking for the T20 World Cup in October,” said Harper.

The two T20Is will be played at the Pallakele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy.

West Indies and Sri Lanka are now contesting a three-match ODI series. Sri Lanka won the first match today by a wicket in Colombo.

The second match is in Hambantota on Wednesday.

West Indies T20I squad

Kieron Pollard (capt), Fabian Allen, Dwayne Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Brandon King, Nicholas Pooran, Rovman Powell, Andre Russell, Lendl Simmons, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jr, Kesrick Williams.

IN: Andre Russell, Oshane Thomas, Fabian Allen, Shai Hope.

OUT: Evin Lewis, Khary Pierre, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd.

The West Indies and India Men’s teams will go head-to-head in the five-match series starting Friday, July 29, with the first-ever West Indies Senior Men’s team match to be played at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy. The five-match series runs until August 7 with games being played in Trinidad, St Kitts and Florida.

The same pool of 16 players will then travel to Jamaica for the three-match T20I Series against New Zealand at Sabina Park from August 10-14.

An official squad of 13 players will be nominated ahead of each match.

The Selection Panel recalled left-handed batter Shimron Hetmyer. Left-arm fast bowler Sheldon Cottrell is recovering from injury and unavailable for selection, while allrounder Fabian Allen is also unavailable for personal reasons.

“We welcome back Hetmyer and it is good to see him again in West Indies colours. He will fortify the batting group and with his experience and adaptability we have a ‘finisher’ who can add value and win matches for the team and delight the supporters,” said lead selector, The Most Hon Dr Desmond Haynes.

“Everything we do, we have to take into consideration we have a big tournament coming up later this year, which is the ICC T20 World Cup, so we are planning and gearing up towards that event. It is good to give the players some exposure to the international stage and look to find the right combinations,” Haynes added.

FULL SQUAD

Nicholas Pooran (Captain)

Rovman Powell (Vice Captain)

Shamarh Brooks

Dominic Drakes

Shimron Hetmyer

Jason Holder

Akeal Hosein

Alzarri Joseph

Brandon King

Kyle Mayers

Obed McCoy

Keemo Paul

Romario Shepherd

Odean Smith

Devon Thomas

Hayden Walsh Jr.

The 25-year-old was left out of the ongoing West Indies series against Ireland, after failing a fitness test a few weeks ago.  Since then, the player has been working on the issue in his home country Guyana.  In the meantime, the batsman has been preparing for the upcoming season of the Regional 4-day competition with the Guyana Harpy Eagles.

Recently, the player spent 300-minutes plus at the crease during the team’s Best of Best 4-Day trial match at Albion last week.  According to reports, in addition to the typical stroke play and skill, the player did plenty of running between the wickets for his knock of 149.  He is hoping to put together similar performances at the highest level.

“I just got out there and tried to bat as long as I possibly could, and try to help my team to win in whatever way possible. I try to accumulate, and just to be there as long as possible. It is really something I am trying to bring into my game, instead of playing that flashy innings and just batting a couple of balls,” Hetmyer told the Guyana Times.

“I just try to be there as long as possible, and just help my team. Even if we cannot win it, I can try to draw it. That is basically along the lines I am thinking right now,” he added.

Over the last few years, Hetmyer has been known for his exploits in the shorter formats.  The batsman has not played Test cricket since 2019 and last appeared in the regional four-day tournament in 2020.

It is their first trip ever to an IPL final where they face four-time champions Mumbai Indians.

Hetmyer hit four fours and a six and shared in a 52-run partnership with Shikhar Dhawan who top scored for the Capitals with a 50-ball 78.

The half-century stand came up in just 25 balls with Hetmyer scoring 34 of them as the Capitals raced towards their match-winning total of 189 for 3.

Man of the Match Marcus Stoinis opened the batting with Dhawan and scored 38 from 27 balls. He and Dhawan scored 50 runs from just 29 balls and were 65 without loss after six overs. Stoinis was unbeaten on 33 and Dhawan 30.

The pair took the score to 86 when Stoinis was bowled by Rashid Khan in the ninth over.

Shreyas Iyer joined Dhawan and together they took the score to 126 when Jason Holder had Iyer caught at mid-off for 21.

Hetmyer and Dhawan then took the Sunrisers’ bowling to task scoring at just about 12 runs an over. The Guyanese batsman was particularly harsh on the West Indies captain hitting him for four fours in the 18^th over that yielded 18 runs.

Dhawan was trapped lbw in the 19^th over two balls after he was dropped at deep midwicket by Rashid Khan.  The Capitals lost some momentum after that with only seven runs coming off the final over but managed a competitive total of 189 for 3.

Chasing 190, Sunrisers were immediately in trouble when the dangerous David Warner was bowled by Kagiso Rabada for 2 in the second over with the score at 12.

Three overs later, Sunrisers were in deeper trouble when Stoinis dismissed Priyam Garg (17) and Manish Pandey with the fourth and the sixth balls of the fifth over. At the break, Sunrisers were 64 for 3 from nine overs.

Holder stayed with Kane Williamson until the 12^th over when he lost his wicket to Axar Patel for 11 and the Sunrisers 90 for 4.

Williamson and Abdul Samad put on a quick-fire 57 to bring Sunrisers back into the hunt. The 50-stand came up in just 27 balls but the chase began to unravel when Sunrisers lost their fifth wicket in the 17^th over when Stoinis had Kane caught by Rabada for 67 with the score at 147.

At 167 for 5, Rabada inflicted the death blows when he had the wickets of Samad and Khan in successive deliveries as he finished with 4 for 29.

The double blow took the sting out of the Sunrisers attack and booked the Capitals spot in the finals.

Stoinis completed a good day with figures of 3 for 26.

Speaking openly on Hetmyer’s career and a number of other topics, Pollard reasoned that the 24-year-old player from Berbice will only excel if he is hungry enough for success. 

“We love Hetty. He is a young, talented cricketer, a guy who we know, deep in our hearts, can take West Indies cricket forward from a generational point of view with his skill and what he can achieve on a cricket field,” Pollard said on the Line & Length TV Show on Sportsmax. The show airs at approximately 6:00 pm in Jamaica/7:00 pm ECT. 

“He knows the truth and he knows what it is. We would love Hetty to be playing all three formats of our cricket, but as the saying goes, ‘you can only take the horse to the water, but you can’t force him to drink.’ So with that being said, I will leave it right there and for the individual himself to get things together.

“We love him and we want to have him. He has a fantastic record in ODI cricket; we saw what he can do in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and it’s just for him to take what’s in front of him. The world is at his feet. It’s if he wants it bad enough and what he wants to achieve as an individual,” said Pollard.

Hetmyer has not been a consistent member of the West Indies team over the past year owing to fitness and Covid-19 concerns. Along with other senior players, he chose not to tour Bangladesh earlier this year out of personal fears and concerns for his safety because of the Covid-19 infection rates in that country.

In 16 Tests he averages 27.93 and is yet to register a century, but in ODI’s he has five hundreds and averages 36.66 from 42 innings while in T20s he has scored 379 runs with a strike rate of 116.97.

Over the last year, he has scored 100 runs from five innings in T20 Internationals and 14 runs in two ODI’s. His form for the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League and the Delhi Capitals in the IPL has been more encouraging, but he failed to maintain a CWI contract, prompting cries in some circles that he wasn’t given a fair break.

In terms of the upcoming white-ball series against South Africa where the Windies will play five T20s in Grenada, Pollard warned that the side who is rated at Number-10 in the T20s must be on top of their game.

“We have to plan properly in order to conquer. Not looking too much into the names (of the opposition) because as I said before these guys are talented in their own right as they would have not been selected for their national teams (otherwise),” said Pollard.

Hetmyer scored an unbeaten 67 off 59 balls, hitting three fours and four sixes, as he partnered with Tevin Imlach for an unbroken second-wicket stand of 93 to helped propel Guyana to 155 for 1 from 28.4 overs in reply to the Windwards’ 153 all out.

 Imlach, who scored an unbeaten 37, shared an opening stand of 62 with Chanderpaul Hemaj, who made 41.

Alick Athanaze was the lone wicket-taker for the Windwards with 1-130 from his seven overs.

Earlier, Man-of-the-Match Keon Joseph took 4-24 and Hemraj 2-11 as the Windwards were bundled out for 153 in 45 overs.

Only Kevin Stoute, who scored 41 and Emmanuel Stewart 46 offered any real resistance to the Guyana bowling attack.

Stoute and Stewart put on 60 for the fifth wicket after which Stewart and Kevin Cottoy mounted a 39-run stand for the sixth. Cottoy made 27.

The teams will meet again in the second semi-final on Thursday.

“We had done a press conference very recently and we had explained that there were some players that had missed the minimum fitness standard for selection, two of those players have since met that standard, that’s Roston Chase and Shimron Hetmyer,” Adams said earlier today.

“They would now be available for selection for the next selection meeting around the Test matches coming up later in March.”

The players were among four that the West Indies selectors said were not named to the T20 and ODI squads to face Sri Lanka starting March 3 because they had failed fitness tests.

Hetmyer’s omission, especially, caused a bit of a stir regionally, considering that the news of his non-selection came against the backdrop of him scoring a century for the Guyana Jaguars in the semi-final of the CG Insurance Super50 semi-final against the Windward Islands Volcanoes last week Thursday.

During a press conference last Saturday, Adams, in response to questions regarding whether the selectors would consider overlooking Hetmyer’s fitness considering his current form, said that was not likely to happen.

 “The policy asks for a minimum standard in certain aspects of fitness testing.  So on the yo-yo intermittent test, that minimum standard is 40 and for a couple of years we have had selection tied to the achievement of that minimum standard,” Adams said.

“It’s pretty simple and all the players are aware of it.  Failure to get to 40 makes them unavailable for selection. So when the panel sits, the first thing that they will consider, before looking at the teams and the squads they want to put together, is who are the players that are available through achieving that minimum standard.”

Hetmyer and Lewis were dropped from the regional team ahead of the upcoming One Day International (ODI) series against Sri Lanka, after failing to meet the minimum fitness standard required.

The Windies will play three matches against Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club, the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium in Hambantota and the Pallakele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy. The ODIs will be followed by two T20 Internationals in Kandy.

According to CWI chief executive Johnny Grave, the duo could return in time for the T20 series if they manage to pass upcoming re-tests.

“In the case of Hetmyer he has been extremely fit and bought into the fitness standards but for whatever reason, the test came back well below the minimum standard, but we expect him to be re-tested in two weeks.  Hopefully, he’ll pass the test and be available for selection,” Grave told the SportsMax Zone.

“The squad that we have announced is for the three one day internationals against Sri Lanka.  There are two T20 internationals after those and that squad hasn’t been selected.  Hopefully, the players will re-take those tests and pass them and be available for selection.”

Hetmyer was retained by the Delhi Capitals ahead of the 2021 auction, despite a lukewarm season in which he scored 185 runs in 11 innings at an average of 23.12 and a strike rate of 148.

However, his compatriots Keemo Pail and Sherfane Rutherford were not as fortunate as they were both released having failed to force their way into the starting line ups for the Capitals and the Mumbai Indians, respectively.

Not surprisingly, Kieron Pollard has been retained by the 2020 champions Mumbai Indians. Pollard was an influential figure in the Indians set up and captained the team in the absence of Rohit Sharma, who was sidelined with a hamstring injury at the back end of the season.

Pollard’s compatriot, Dwayne Bravo, who suffered a season-ending injury in 2020, was retained by the Chennai Super Kings. Bravo won the Purple Cap in the 2013 and 2015 seasons. In 2013, he took 32 wickets during the IPL, the most ever for in an IPL, and he continues to be a game-changer for the Super Kings.

Meanwhile, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine were both retained by the Kolkata Knight Riders even after less than stellar seasons. Christopher Gayle and Nicholas Pooran were deservedly retained by the Kings XI Punjab.

Jason Holder, who was signed by the Sunrisers Hyderabad, after Mitchell Marsh suffered an injury early in the season, was retained by the franchise.

It was not all good news for Sheldon Cottrell who was released by Kings XI Punjab after a disappointing season. He was signed for more than USD$1 million.  Fabian Allen and Oshane Thomas were released by the Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals, respectively.

Along with Hetmyer and Hope, the Amazon Warriors have also announced the retention of fast bowler Odean Smith, all-rounders Romario Shepherd an Keemo Paul, spinner Gudakesh Motie as well as Chandrapaul Hemraj, Matthew Nandu and Junior Sinclair.

The overseas players and draft picks will be announced during the Republic Bank CPL draft show which will be broadcast at the end of June.

The tournament gets underway on 16 August with the final taking place on 24 September. There will be matches in Barbados, Guyana, St Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago.

Shepherd also took a wicket and bowled with pace on a good surface at the Coolidge Cricket Ground. He won the CG Insurance Man-of-the-Match award. Guyana batted first and made 235. After a rain break, the target was revised to 232 off 47 overs. Barbados Pride reached 91-5 in the 30th over when the rain returned and brought an end to the match.

Off-spinner Kevin Sinclair, a member of the victorious West Indies Emerging Players team back in 2019, took 2-17 from 7.3 overs as Guyana Jaguars bowled well. His first wicket was opener Justin Greaves, caught at mid-wicket by Hetmyer and the second was Roston Chase, beaten and bowled.

“I’m really pleased with my performance. I have been working really hard on my batting and I was happy with the way I played and the contribution I made to help the team win,” Shepherd said.

“I’m in good shape and the ball is also coming out really well. This was a good victory for us … you always want to start with a win.”