Shimron Hetmyer has been replaced in the West Indies squad for this month’s Twenty20 World Cup after missing an already rescheduled flight to Australia on Monday.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) said the left-hander had been scheduled to leave Guyana on Saturday but had requested a delayed departure from Guyana due to “family reasons”.
According to CWI, Hetmyer on Monday told Director of Cricket Jimmy Adams that he “would not be able to get to the airport in time” for the flight to New York — the first leg of his trip down under.
Shamarh Brooks, who topped the averages for recently crowned Caribbean Premier League champions Jamaica Tallawahs, has been called up by selectors to replace Hetmyer.
“This afternoon we informed the CWI Board of Directors that the selection panel had unanimously decided to replace Shimron Hetmyer with Shamarh Brooks in our T20 World Cup squad,” Adams said.
“Whilst we changed Shimron’s flight from Saturday to Monday due to family reasons, it was made clear to him that if there were any further delays and issues with his travel to Australia then we would have no choice but to replace him in the squad, as we are not prepared to compromise the team’s ability to prepare for this extremely important global event.”
Hetmyer’s removal from the squad is yet another blow to his topsy-turvy international career, the 25-year-old only returning to the squad in July following a nine-month spell on the sidelines due to personal and fitness issues.
The T20 format is the only form of the game in which he currently features, having not turned out in a Test in three years and a One-Day International in just over a year.
Brooks, meanwhile, will get the chance to resuscitate his T20 career after playing the last of his 11 matches in August against New Zealand but then missing out on a place for the World Cup.
The elegant right-hander shone with an extraordinary unbeaten hundred for Tallawahs last week in a tournament-high 226-4, which helped his side to a 37-run win over the Hetmyer-led Guyana Amazon Warriors in the second qualifier of the CPL.
“Shamarh has been a part of our recent T20 International squads and delivered strong performances in the latter stages of the recently concluded CPL,” Adams said.
“He will fly out as soon as possible this week to Australia and I wish him and all the squad all the very best for the tournament.”
West Indies face hosts Australia in the first of two T20 Internationals in the Gold Coast on Wednesday, the series serving as preparation for the October 16 to November 13 T20 World Cup.