Hetmyer has all the talent in the world, but needs to learn ‘batsmanship’

– says Coach Reifer

At end of the second day’s play in the second Test match between India and the West Indies, West Indies Head Coach Floyd Reifer spoke to media operatives, disclosing, among other things, that Guyanese Shimron Hetmyer needs to learn ‘batsmanship’.

“He is a talented batsman, but he has to learn batsmanship: you know, adapt to the situation and play to the situation; and that’s something we speak about to Hety”, Reifer explained.
The Barbadian added that Hetmyer is growing and maturing, but it will take some time for him to learn to adapt to situations. “He has all the skills, he plays a lot of shots, but it’s just a matter of batting the situation”, Reifer explained.
Reifer revealed that Hetmyer is repeatedly told to play according to the situation, and he opined that Hetmyer will gradually learn from his failures.
The 22-year-old Hetmyer has scored 35 and 01 in the first Test against India in Antigua. In the second Test, ongoing in Jamaica, Hetmyer scored 34, and his dismissal has been due to poor judgement on his behalf.
In the 14 Test matches he has played (excluding this ongoing match), Hetmyer has recorded 790 runs in 27 innings, but is still without a Test century. He has scored five half-centuries, and has a high-score of 93 in Test cricket, a format of the game in which he has not excelled.

This Guyanese premier batsman has played seven more innings in the One Day International (ODI) format of the game than the 27 he has played in Tests. An explosive left-hander, Hetmyer has scored four hundreds and four fifties in ODI cricket, and has also been successful in T20 cricket, especially in the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL), wherein he racked up 440 in the 2018 edition playing for his local franchise, Guyana Amazon Warriors.
This former West Indies Under-19 captain has now been tasked with the responsibility of being the “batting director” for the GAW in 2019; but it is a role which may further develop his game.
With Hetmyer celebrating his 23rd birthday on December 26, he is certainly expected to improve his performances, especially in the Test format, where he is century-less. His attacking stroke play has been employed to his detriment in recent times, both in the ODI and Tests formats.
Undoubtedly talented, it is expected that this flamboyant left-hander would seek to learn from his batting failures, and score more runs on a consistent basis. (Brandon Corlette)