Dear Editor,
Permit me a space in your [publication] to express my disgust and uneasiness to the continued snub of my countryman and world class performer.
Over the years as a student of this game we love so much and life in general, I have learnt to live with disappointments, dust it off and move on.
However, I am beginning to believe that the continued snub of Shimron Hetmyer is more personal than lack of fitness or lack of commitment to West Indies cricket.
It’s no secret that West Indies will choose some of the most mediocre players to become administrators, where jealousy and personality clashes abound. The underlying issue remains how successful these young lads would have become in comparison to men with 15 and 20-year careers.
It’s no fault of theirs, life is not static, it remains dynamic, this is simply a different time.
Let’s look at three of the top teams in the world and compare the careers of some of the leading lights in the administration of cricket, India, Ganguly and Dravid, South Africa, Graeme Smith, England, Andrew Strauss.
I deliberately left out Australia, none of the current crop of selectors and immediate past selectors headed by Courtney Browne had a consistent run in the WI squad.
Roger Harper as chief Judge, Jury and Executioner has availed unto himself to single handedly destroy young Hetmyer to look good in Caribbean circles, where the notion of if I can do that to my own home boy, who else I can’t do this to?
I have been following closely, the statements attributed to my good friend Reds Pereira, one of our outstanding sons in broadcasting, I am in full support of his idea. Who in the hierarchy called young Shimron and spoke to him?
The Master Blaster Richards was a bit more subtle in asking the young man to look in the mirror, yes, we are always contributors to our own downfalls.
In this case where youthful exuberance abounds, the words of Jason Holder hold substance, counsel the players, not chastise and abandon them.
The entire Caribbean is aware that this 30-man training squad has people in it that can’t come close to the talented young Berbician.
The world is full of small-minded administrators, that the simplest of things are held against you, these people will hound you down to halt your strides forward.
I say without fear of contradiction, there is more in the mortar than in the pestle in Hetmyer’s continued snub.
No wonder locally, young Ramjattan has filed a no-confidence motion in an association where harper plays an integral role in decision making.
I know the President of Guyana, His Excellency Irfaan Ali is an ardent cricket fan since in his University days, Sports Minister, Hon Ramson, who has shown an inclination to continued progress thus far, GCB President and the proven and tested Hilbert Foster, being Vice President, needs to have some clarity, either directly or indirectly about the future of this young Guyanese sportsman.
Today is Hetty, tomorrow will be another Guyanese, when we are treated unkind by our own, how do we expect others to treat us?
As is advised, improve your fitness Shimron, I patiently await to see the other flimsy excuse by the so called “excellent” selectors who are so strict and straight up when there are no further doubts lingering.
Reds alluded to the sterner test that lies ahead with the upcoming series with teams that are far more talented than Bangladesh, as we bask in the glory of the team’s success recently, we recognise how important this game is to Caribbean integration.
Distinguished UWI Professor, Sir Hillary Beckles put it nicely, “we took it from its victorian mores, fused it into a single institution that defines us as a people, for cricket remains the only and single unifying force for us as a people”.
Those profound words aren’t to be taken lightly, I challenge the incumbent Ricky Skerrit and Dr Shallow to be objective and bring this issue of “selectoral blunders” to a halt for the betterment of West Indies cricket.
With regards,
Ronald Shepherd
