The Cricket West Indies (CWI) Selection Panel has named a 30-man squad for a three-week High-Performance Red-Ball training camp in St Lucia which started Sunday, May 16, in preparation for the upcoming Test Series against South Africa.
Talented, performing Guyanese batsman Hetmyer, who lost his retainer contract for the 2021-22 season, has again been snubbed and not been selected for the camp.
The Everest Cricket Club (ECC) registers its dismay and disappointment at the non-selection of Hetmyer for the camp given the 24-year-old’s pedigree.
Everest also support the position of the GCB on the issue of criteria and consistency in the selection process Hetmyer, has been a tremendous talent for West Indies and it is bewildering how a player of his caliber is not among the top 30 in the Caribbean preparing for any international series.
His fitness should not be used as a fault since it should be the intention of a High-Performance camp to aid in the player’s further development.
Given the pandemic and a load of limited-overs cricket for the West Indies on the horizon, most importantly, the defense of the WorldT20 title come October-November, it would have been wise to have one of your most destructive batsmen in a high-performance camp.
The pros outweigh the cons of allowing Hetmyer simply to return home and possibly join the squad of the Twenty20 International series against South Africa rather than making the investment in him to help improve and in turn be more consistent for West Indies. His inclusion would also be a boost and motivation for the other players.
Furthermore, the ECC is calling for CWI to have fairness in their selection criteria. The ECC will support any system which seeks to create one of meritocracy but it must be transparent and all should be held to the same standards.
What raises further eyebrows is that the camp has selected players who would have excelled at this year’s Super50 tournament in Antigua or are regular members. (ECC Release)
