Chairman of the Senior National Selection Panel, Ramanaresh Sarwan, has indicated that Shimron Hetmyer’s selection to the Guyana Harpy Eagles would hinge on him playing Inter-County cricket.
According to Sarwan, he has spoken to Hetmyer on numerous occasions and would trust that a “mature” Hetmyer would make the necessary choices.
“I have spoken to ‘Hetty’ numerous times before and I think ‘Hetty’ is mature enough and old enough to make the right decisions and he has to know what he wants,” Sarwan stated on Saturday when questioned on Hetmyer’s availability for selection.
Sarwan announced the Guyana Harpy Eagles squad for the third round of the West Indies Four-Day Championship, and Hetmyer, who opted out of playing for county team Berbice for reportedly family commitments, was not included in the squad.
The chairman indicated that it is the policy of the Guyana Cricket Board that for players to be eligible for national duties they must play inter-county cricket, with the potential exceptions being West Indies duties or injury.
Hetmyer last represented Guyana at the Super50 in November 2022, prior to which he played in the Inter-County Super50.
“It is difficult to answer for ‘Hetty’, the board has a policy that once you play inter-county, you become eligible for selection to Guyana. In terms of if ‘Hetty’ wants to play local cricket that is totally up to him. I don’t believe as a selector I can force him to do that,” the former West Indies captain added.
With regards to Sherfane Rutherford, Sarwan said: “Sherfane is someone we would like to have in our one-day line-up and whenever that time meets, we will be able to reach out to him and ask him in terms if he will be available to play for Guyana in that format.”
