Shimron Hetmyer Is Becoming More Of A Problem Than A Talent

As he tangles down the boundary rope and juggles the hard yards with much intent, it can be seen. Not that he makes a show of it, but can be seen. As he shuffles the bat, to get to the ideal grip before facing the next incoming delivery, it can be seen.

Ditto for the time when he runs in the hard yards on the 22 yards in a desperate bit to convert the ones into twos as also for the attempts and the missed attempts made at dives put in to stop the odd one from reaching the fence.

To his naysayers- the it is the growing belly of a young cricketer who at 27 must certainly do something about it. But to his avid fans, and make no mistake, they aren’t alone in Guyana, but in parts of the world where West Indies cricket is still loved beyond anything else, the reference is to the cricket bat-shaped locket that Shimron Hetmyer wears proudly at all times.

It is a given that the cricket-loving, neckpiece-adorning, batting-hungry, white-ball smasher likely wears it all times, even when he’s not dictating terms on the cricket pitch. He loves it too much, a bit like his batting.

But the problem is, if he doesn’t do something about his batting, then the very symbol of pride that Shimron Hetmyer wears with such pride may seem like a noose tightening around his neck; for the runs aren’t coming, they just aren’t.

And even as this may seem some diabolical direction of the batting of a promising batsman, as relevant to Guyana as he is to his West Indies, it is anything but.

This is an urgent call to action to a gifted batsman who somewhere is forgetting that he needs Cricket West Indies- that wagon that often self destructs but also willingly repairs itself- as it needs him.

And somewhere, just somewhere between the loss of hope and the time he’s taking in finding form, it does appear true that time may be running out for Shimron Hetmyer who is all of 27. Not a year or month or even day old.

To a West Indies batting unit that to its handy pantheon of critics, many of whom range from informed fans to classy feature writers who get published in some of the world’s most well received outlets, Shimron Hetmyer is an anomaly to the system. It’s a system that, somehow as seen throughout 2023, has begun winning series after series in the game’s shortest format, not random games in isolation.

To a team that was found wanting even before the advanced stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 began, Shimron Hetmyer is a burden. It’s a team that, on present day, is being led with caution and focus by Rovman Powell and where with Andre Russell’s much vaunted return, the new faces anchoring the batting are Alick Athanaze, Romario Shepherd, Brandon King and even, Shai Hope.

Burden in both cases; Hetmyer’s doing little or so it seems about the swelling girth, never a good news for any cricketer, irrespective of his caliber. And burden also because there’s little spark witnessed despite hints of it on random but unsettling occasions.

For instance, just when it seemed he was over and done with, and could offer nothing to his West Indies team in the series against India, Hetmyer produced a belter of a 61 off just 6.3 overs at the Central Broward Regional Park (August, 2023). This was a vital T20I effort and only his fifth fifty in the format.

But by then the damage had been done; his scores before and after read a very disappointing and nowhere close-to-impressive 10, 22, 9.

In fact, in 3 of his 6 T20I innings, a format where the Hobble Desmond Haynes and the Windies think-tank persisted with the noted batsman, Shimron Hetmyer made single-digit scores in 2023.

2 of his single digit outings came against the English, where most recently, 1 and 2, lasting for no more than 9 delivers in the series before he was axed. There’s no other way to put it.

Another single-digit score came against India when the Windies would’ve wanted their experienced batsman to carry on unflustered.

What was shambolic to see- and that’s the word, for any term less indignant won’t convey the hurt of his fans- was that in the very games Hetmyer was failing, someone like Varma was excelling. That’s when the former is a known batsman of power and the other, a cricketing neophyte who was then on his maiden Caribbean tour.

Scoring 105 runs from 6 T20 international outings at a horribly low average of 17 isn’t his only ready reckoner to relaunch himself with rich gusto to the Windies cause; it is taking toll of the fact that how did I, i.e., Shimron Hetmyer, a batsman of timing and power and above all, a handy player of spin reach such a low for them to not even consider me.

Ask any Cricket fan anywhere in the West Indies on their opinion on who plays the spin best from the current lot and chances are, eight in ten will name Hope, Hetmyer and Poona as the trinity. But this was the trinity that was expected to guide the Windies to excellence across formats.

Let’s just see where they are at this time in their careers. While Pooran, for some reason best known to his West Indies cricket, doesn’t play Tests, Hope is out of the team and Hetmyer has fallen out of flavour. What could and will likely hurt the West Indies in the longer run is that Poona will not play ODI’s anytime soon having refused the central contract much to many’s chagrin, maybe even Sir Haynes’.

Hetmyer has been dropped and many may not be surprised if he’s not picked for the T20 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the West Indies. What could be worse?

The only way, they say, is left for one to reach when the rock bottom has been hit is the highs. Let us hope that after 110 white ball appearances, 16 Tests, nearly 3,000 international runs and 5 centuries, Shimron Hetmyer reaches the highs again, having recently found himself to be this bottom dweller. It’s something he’d not be relishing, ditto for his fans.

It’s a position he must immediately evacuate and relaunch himself with dazzling power and flair that he’s known for. Hetmyer’s can’t go easy on themselves or the bowlers; the lords don’t make many like them anymore: fierce and fiery. The Hetmyers ought to become Hit-myers. Can Shimron be that anytime soon?