Cricket West Indies (CWI) recently announced the squad for the upcoming ODI WOrld Cup Qualifiers, set to begin in June in Zimbabwe. While the likes of Shai Hope, Nicholas Pooran, Jason Holder and others were part of the outfit, powerful-striker Shimron Hetmyer was absent from the squad.
Many fans left guessing as to what could be the reason behind Hetmyer’s absence, who has done relatively well in the limited-overs squad for the Windies. Now, Desmond Haynes, who is the lead selector of men’s cricket in West Indies, has revealed why Hetmyer was not picked for the WC Qualifier as well as the three-match ODI series against UAE in Sharjah.
Haynes said that Hetmyer did send an email confirming his availability for the UAE tour and WC Qualifiers but selectors decided not to include Hetmyer as Hope, who recently become the new captain for the ODI side, expressed his satisfaction with the unit that played in their last series against South Africa.
“Yes, Hetmyer was available. He did send through an email or correspondence to Jimmy [Adams], our director of cricket, stating that he was available for the tour. What we selectors decided to do was that we’ve just had a new [ODI] captain in Shai Hope and he was very happy to express his views about the type of camaraderie we had in the team in South Africa,” Haynes told reporters at a virtual presser.
“We as selectors saw commitment, we saw a real change in our approach to one-day cricket, and we thought it was only fair to stick with these guys,” he added.
Notably, Hetmyer has been absent from ODI matches since July 2021, and his most recent appearance for the national side came in a T20I match in August 2022. Further, he was excluded from the T20 World Cup squad last year due to his failure to board a rescheduled flight to Australia.
