West Indies drop Hetmyer from T20 World Cup squad after batter misses flight

In a bizarre turn of events, West Indies have dropped Shimron Hetmyer from their T20 World Cup squad after the left-hand batter missed a "rescheduled" flight to Australia on Monday (October 3). Cricket West Indies (CWI) confirmed the shocking development, stating also that the decision was taken "unanimously" by the selection panel. 

West Indies' Australia-bound squad had boarded the plane for Down Under in different groups on Saturday upon the conclusion of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2022. But Hetmyer requested the board to reschedule his flight for Monday due to personal reasons.

CWI acted positively on Shimron Hetmyer's request and gave the player extra days to be ready to board the flight to Australia. As it panned out, however, the middle-order aggressor then told CWI Director of Cricket Jimmy Adams that he will not be able to travel at all. 

That ultimately forced the board and the selectors to drop Hetmyer from their Australia touring contingent and name Shamarh Brooks as his replacement for the marquee ICC event. 

CWI drop Shimron Hetmyer from T20 World Cup 

"The decision by the CWI selection panel was made as Shimron Hetmyer missed his re-scheduled flight to Australia, which had been changed from Saturday 1 October at his request, due to family reasons," CWI said in a media statement.

"With flight availability a real challenge, a seat was found for him to leave Guyana today, Monday 3 October, meaning he would unfortunately miss the 1st T20 International (T20I) against Australia on Wednesday 5 October at the Metricon Stadium. This morning, Mr Hetmyer, informed the Director of Cricket that he would not be able to get to the airport in time for his flight this afternoon to New York."

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There was a case to be made for West Indies to allow Hetmyer to skip the two-match T20I series versus Australia but give him assurance over his World Cup spot given the player's critical nature to the side. Brooks, who has been named Hetmyer's replacement, will also not play the Aussie T20Is. But Adams clarified that the player had been told in no uncertain terms that any further delay in missing the flight to Australia will cost him his spot. 

"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," he added.