Take stock, lad

Legendary former West Indies captain Sir Vivian Richards and former Barbados and England opener Roland Butcher have sent words of advice to promising Guyanese and West Indies middle-order batsman Shimron Hetmyer.

An overweight and unfit Hetmyer has not featured for the West Indies side in recent times, and despite his abundance of talent, both retired players suggested he is failing to fulfil his true potential.

Richards called on Hetmyer to take a more mature approach to cricket in order to realise and maximise his full potential. The iconic former batsman fondly referred to as the ‘Master Blaster’ said that any failure by Hetmyer to do justice to his ability would be a great loss not just to the West Indies, but to the sport as a whole.

The 24-year-old batsman has been in the spotlight recently, after failing to secure an international retainer contract from Cricket West Indies (CWI).  Long-touted as one of the region’s premier talents, Hetmyer has had a disappointing period, missing out on several appearances for the West Indies and twice failing a fitness test.

“You’ve got to put in the work [because] if you take half measures, then you are going to get half measure results for sure. Shortcuts in this particular profession are of no substance and I am not sure if what I am saying here now will get to him at some point, but the individual is a talented individual and there are times when I see him on the field and he is pretty playful like he is still a kid and he actually has to be a little more mature at this stage now,” Richards told the Antigua Observer.

“The guy has got too much talent and I think that if this talent goes to waste, it would be a huge loss, not just maybe to himself but to world cricket on a whole,” he added.

Hetmyer, who has played all three formats for the West Indies, last appeared for the team in a T20I series against New Zealand last year.  He has, however, not played One Day International Cricket since January of last year and has not played a Test match since November 2019. However, he has spent the last three seasons in the Indian Premier League where he has turned out for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals earning more than US$2.5 million over the three years.

“If he really wants to make this sport his profession and to get the maximum result that everyone feels he has in him in terms of the talent, then he has got to really start looking at himself in the mirror and start to think. I think he is 24 years old now, so he has got to be serious. When you hear some of the stuff like they fail a fitness test and all that sort of stuff then that is just totally unprofessional,” Richards said.

Meanwhile, Butcher told Barbados TODAY that Hetmyer’s five centuries in white ball cricket was evidence of his talent, but he needed to back up that talent with all the things that make a cricketer a top player. He said these included fitness, self-motivation and maintaining performances at a high level.

“He is really too young a player to be having the problems he has been having with fitness. He is not even 35, he is a young man, at his age he should be in the peak of health. What he is doing now is a loss to West Indies because that talent West Indies would like to be on show. But if the other areas are lacking, then really he puts himself in a position where he cannot help West Indies cricket,” Butcher said, adding that only Hetmyer could decide whether he was going to be an asset to West Indies or not.

Butcher, a Barbados Cricket Association administrator, noted that at this stage West Indies cricket could not do anything for Hetmyer in terms of change. That, he explained, had to come from within the player himself. He stated that if Hetmyer wants to be a fixture in the West Indies team then he will put in the work to do so. “If he decides that he can’t be bothered then he will find himself on the sidelines, it is up to him,” Butcher said.

He said Hetmyer was playing in an era where West Indies dIdn’t have a mountain of top players and if he was considered one of the top players then he should be setting the example and leading the way. Butcher who played county cricket for Middlesex in England and for Tasmania state in Australia, said players should no longer be trying to get by on pure talent. He added that idea of making it on talent alone has hampered West Indies cricket for a long time.

Commenting on Sir Viv’s reactions to Hetmyer’s situation, Butcher said that when Sir Vivian Richards speaks, one must listen.

“Viv has been a champion player and knows what it takes to be a champion player, the discipline required both physically and mentally on and off the field. When Viv speaks in that manner, he is speaking with authority, he has seen it all and done it all in the sport. And he would have seen other talented players who went by the wayside because of similar things. Hetmyer should really take note of what someone like Richards says and then set about putting things right,” Butcher said.
(SportsMax/WG)