Shimron Hetmyer: A coming of age

Sun, May 1, '22

The date is Sunday, October 21, 2018. The West Indies are taking on India in the first of five One-Day Internationals (ODI) in India, as the teams continue preparations for the upcoming 2019 Cricket World Cup. Batting on 98 in the first innings, Shimron Hetmyer backs away and deposits Mohammed Shami over the cover boundary to bring up his third ODI century (106 off 78) in only his 13th game. Hetmyer was 21 years old at the time.

Three and a half years on from that knock, and now five years into his international career, the 25-year-old has managed to excite West Indian fans as much as he has managed to frustrate them. Yet, ironically enough, it is in the latest edition of the league (Indian Premier League—IPL) so many in the Caribbean denounce, in the format they bemoan, which he has managed to display the maturity the region has long craved for the Guyanese.

From his floppy hat and gold chain to the swagger with which he moves between the wickets and on the field and the aggression in his stroke play, Hetmyer evokes ‘back-then’ West Indies. And while his aggressive nature as a batter might be his most prominent characteristic yet, his technique is such that the expectation remains that this man from Berbice, with an IPL strike rate (SR) of 156.96, will be an eventual and sustainable success in Test match cricket.

Providence has a new hero

Zoning in on his T20 career, however, the existence of Hetmyer’s range has been acknowledged in the contrasting roles he’s been asked to fulfil: sometimes anchor, sometimes finisher. A request which is quite reasonable for a talent like Hetmyer.

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