Joseph, Hetmyer among five Guyanese in West Indies World T20 squad

Batsman Shimron Hetmyer and uncapped fast bowler Shamar Joseph are among five Guyanese in the West Indies squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup next month in the Caribbean and USA.

The announcement was made at a press conference by Chairman of Selector The Most Honourable Dr. Desmond Haynes and Head Coach Daren Sammy in Barbados on Friday morning.

All-rounders Romario Shepherd and Sherfane Rutherford and left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie are the other Guyanese in the 15-man squad.

While Hetmyer is well established in the format, having played 212 T20 matches (57 T20 Internationals), Joseph has played just three domestic T20s and is yet to pick up a wicket.

After his superb exploits in that memorable Test series against Australia earlier this year, Joseph was selected by Lucknow Super Giants for the ongoing IPL, and in his lone game in the league to date, he produced figures of 4-0-47-0 against Kolkata Knight Riders.

Hetmyer meanwhile, had missed his flight to the 2022 T20 World Cup, but has since returned to the fold for West Indies.

Alzarri Joseph has been named deputy to the captain Rovman Powell, while Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell and Jason Holder all make the squad, as well as Roston Chase.

Among the notable omissions are opener Kyle Mayers and left-arm seamer Obed McCoy.

West Indies are in Group C along with Papua New Guinea (PNG), Uganda, New Zealand and Afghanistan. Their first two games are in Providence, Guyana, against PNG on June 2 and against Uganda on June 8.

They then play New Zealand at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad on June 12, before their last group game against Afghanistan on June 17 in St. Lucia.

Brief comments

“We can win this World Cup,” a confident Haynes said in his opening remarks.

“Exciting times,” said Sammy as he looks forward to becoming to first man to win the T20 World Cup as captain and coach.

West Indies won the World T20 in 2012 and 2016, both times under the leadership of Sammy.