Kaieteur News article.
Georgetown, Guyana - When most people are asked to make a wish they usually wish for something for themselves but not so with 18-year-old West Indies under-19 opener Guyanese Shemron Odilon Hetymer and that tells a lot about the selfless nature of the Berbician teenager.
“If I had one wish I would wish for my brother Seon to break into the Guyana team for the upcoming Regional First-Class season which starts in November,” Shemron disclosed after long consideration.
The 23-year-old Seon, a former Guyana U-19 batsman who presently represent Berbice in Guyana’s Inter-County cricket, was the person mainly responsible for his younger brother developing an interest in cricket.
In contrast to Shemron, who is a pugnacious left-hander, Seon is an elegant, stylish right-hander and his 105 against T&T in Barbados in the 2008 Regional U-19 tournament will always stick in my mind.
Shemron was born to Gladstone and Ingrid Hetymer on Boxing Day of 1996 in New Amsterdam, Berbice and is one of four children and the second of two boys.
“Everyone in our family loved cricket and I grew up in Canjie playing with Seon and my two sisters, Shonette & Shonelle. Almost everyone in our Village loved cricket but my parents and brother played the biggest role in my early development. When I joined the Young Warriors team in Cumberland, Canje, Anil Beharry and later on, all my Coaches aided my cricketing progress in a big way,” Shemron revealed.
Anil Beharry is now the President of the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) and played a huge role as both player and executive of the Young Warriors Club. He played for Berbice in the late 1990s as a big hitting left-hander who bowled decent left-arm spin.
Shemron has always loved sports and competed in Cricket, Football, Athletics, Swimming and also enjoys listening to music on his headphone, especially when traveling to Cricket matches.
The former Berbice High School (BHS) student made his debut against Barbados in the 2009 youth series in Jamaica before making an inauspicious start to First-Class cricket against T&T in April of 2014 with a terrible shot and was taken in the deep before he had scored as Guyana endured their worst ever season.
During the early stages of his under-19 career he was guilty of trying to play too many big shots too soon and more often than not he would get quick runs but did not bat for lengthy periods. The manner of his dismissal on his First-Class debut emphasized his lack of temperament.
Shemron has played 12 times for the West Indies in U-19 ODIs including a series against Bangladesh on home soil in Guyana but his highest score is 65 as faulty shot selection continued to feature in most of his dismissals.
But this year he looked a more matured and responsible player and tempered his natural aggression with solid defence while never sacrificing his power-shots. He still has another year at youth level and says that playing for the West Indies U-19 team is a great feeling.
“When I was growing up I always dreamed of playing for the West Indies at the highest level and getting into the West Indies youth team has provided me with the opportunity to play at the senior Regional level and given me more exposure,” Shemron explained.
Shemron attributed his new found maturity and improved shot selection to the fact that he is now playing in the senior team for Guyana and being around the senior players like Shiv Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Assad Fudadin and Leon Johnson in addition to playing against better players at the senior level.
“When you play under-19 cricket you get away with a lot of things when you bat. I tend to hit the ball very hard and players my age might drop catches but at the senior level you learn very quickly that you can’t make those mistakes because you will get out. The advice you get from the senior guys in the team on how to build an innings and so on is very important if you are serious about getting better and I think it’s very important that there are a few senior players in the team to guide the younger ones along,” Shemron opined.
At the start of this year Shemron, playing for the West Indies under-19 team against host T&T in the 2015 Regional Super50 tournament at the small Shaw Park ground in Tobago, smashed a belligerent 50 in a game reduced to 21 overs due to rain. This was one of only three Regional senior limited overs games he has played and all were for the Windies U-19s.
But his most memorable game was this year at the Providence Stadium playing for Champions Guyana Jaguars against 2014 champions Barbados. Guyana were large and in charge in their own back yard going into final day needing just 69 to win but were blown away for a humiliating 66 to lose by two runs, a match they had controlled throughout.
“I have mixed emotions about that game. It’s a game I would never forget. I think I played my best innings in First-Class cricket before I was out for 47. We made 261 I think, but lost that game which was a shock to many including the Bajans and for that it was a disappointment but I think that first innings showed me that I could bat at this level,” Shemron pointed out.
He said that rubbing shoulders with the Test players in the Amazon Warriors CPL team and listening to Head Coach Carl Hooper is a real learning experience for any young player.
Shemron has scored 104 runs from four First-Class matches and informed that in the next five years he sees himself playing for the West Indies and participating in the CPL.
“My favorite cricketer is David Warner because when he started out he was seen as a limited overs batsman but has worked on his shot selection to become a really competent Test player now,” Shemron noted.
Hetymer, who favours the sweep shot, said that is his strength against pace trying to hit boundaries because as an opening batsman most of fielders would be behind the wicket leaving plenty of gaps in the field while against spin he would try to rotate the strike and pick the bad balls to hit.
He admitted that his weakness against both types of bowlers is trying to hit the ball too hard but stressed he is learning all the time and trying to make the most of his opportunities.
First Published By Kaieteur News.
