By Avenash Ramzan
Prior to the start of the Hero Caribbean Premier League, Shimron Hetmyer was last active on the cricket field five months ago, in a First-Class match for Guyana Jaguars against Barbados Pride at Providence.
He made 14 and six in that encounter as Pride steamrolled Jaguars, who were dismissed for 55 and 94, by 235 runs. That victory effectively gave Pride the Four-Day title, snapping Jaguars five-year winning streak.
The flashy left-hander subsequently opted out of the West Indies Test tour to England for personal reasons, and spent what turned out to be an extended break from the game at home in Berbice.
With no match practice and far-from-ideal preparation, Hetmyer has returned to the middle with a bang, smashing consecutive fifties in his first two innings of the Hero CPL, reminding the Caribbean and the world at large of his undoubted talent.
Though the unbeaten 63 against three-time champions Trinbago Knight Riders failed to inspire victory, a cracking 43-ball 71 took the Warriors to the brink against Patriots before compatriot Romario Shepherd sealed the win with a boundary.
The win was initially set up by Hetmyer’s countryman and West Indies Under-19 World Cup winning teammate, Keemo Paul, who varied his pace cleverly to snare 4-19, the best figures in CPL at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.
Speaking to Alex Jordan after collecting his Man-of-the-Match accolade, Paul heaped praises on Hetmyer: “Hetty is fantastic. He’s a very dedicated worker. He’s always up for a challenge.”
“He’s a top-class player. I think he has a really, really long career and a really far way to go, and I’m just super proud of him. I’m really excited for him in this tournament. I think there’s lots more to come from him.”
Hetmyer, who was outstanding in the 2018 CPL, scoring 440 runs, including a maiden hundred, had a relatively lean 2019, managing 224 runs with just a solitary half-century and averaged 20.
So far in 2020, he has piled up 134 runs, striking at 152.3.
Warriors next game is against two-time champions Jamaica Tallawahs on Saturday from 14:15h.
