West Indies have controversially dropped middle-order batter Shimron Hetmyer from their squad for the T20 World Cup in Australia as he missed a “rescheduled” flight for the marquee event on October 3. Shamarh Brooks has been brought in as a replacement, Cricket West Indies confirmed.
The board stated picking Brooks was a “unanimous” call by the selectors after Hetmyer’s decision not to join the plane for Down Under, even as he requested the board to rearrange one for him.
The remainder of West Indies’ Australia-bound playing contingent left in different groups on October 1 upon the conclusion of the Caribbean Premier League 2022.
But Hetmyer told CWI he will not be able to travel for the T20 World Cup till Monday owing to personal reasons, only for him to abort the plane altogether and communicate his unavailability to CWI’s Director of Cricket Jimmy Adams.
“With flight availability a real challenge, a seat was found for him to leave Guyana today, Monday 3 October, meaning he would unfortunately miss the 1st T20 International (T20I) against Australia on Wednesday 5 October at the Metricon Stadium,”
the press release reads.
“This morning, Mr Hetmyer, informed the Director of Cricket that he would not be able to get to the airport in time for his flight this afternoon to New York.”
The decision may seem harsh since Brooks will also not be travelling to Australia till later in the week and will not be playing the T20I series against the hosts either. But Adams clarified Hetmyer had been told in no uncertain terms that any further delay in boarding the flight to Australia will put his World Cup spot on the line.
Ahead of the first T20I versus Australia in Queensland on October 5, white-ball skipper Nicholas Pooran termed Hetmyer a “big loss” but said there are “consequences” for each action, indirectly criticising his teammate for the delay in air travel.
Hetmyer’s absence further dents a West Indies side that is already missing Andre Russell and Sunil Narine for the T20 World Cup.
