By Daniel Haynes

You could not write a better script in cricket – the same team winning all three major T20 world titles. However, the West Indies did that. Both the Male and Female teams won on April 3rd. But it was the U19 team’s win a month earlier that set in motion the triple glory for West Indian fans.
Coning down to the final two overs, the equation was a simple one – 9 from 12 balls. AS simple as it looked, it was done, and the West Indies U19 team won their maiden World T20 trophy, and the squad etched their name in the record books. The one person with the front row seat – and the one responsible for steering the team to victory – was the captain, Guyana’s Shimron Hetmyer.
He was born the youngest of four children on December 26, 1996 in Cumberland Village, East Canje Berbice.

“I was the baby of the family, and whenever I wanted to go somewhere I always had to go with one of them.”
Growing up in Berbice where the culture of cricket has been embedded into the county’s DNA, definitely impacted a young Hetmyer, so it was no surprise that he became interested in cricket.
What did come as a surprise, however, was the fact that his inspiration did not come from the heroes and pioneers of Berbice cricket. It was not the Rohan Kanhais or the Joe Solomons or even Basil Butchers of the world that inspired him to become one of Guyana’s best players; his inspiration came from the bat of his older brother Seon Hetmyer.
“My brother was always a cricketer, and when I was younger, I always told myself I have to be as good as him, and even more so, I had to be better than him,” Hetmyer told the Guyana Chronicle in a recent interview.
It was with this mentality and determination that the youngster from Berbice picked up the bat and started his career at the age of 11.
He joined the Young Warriors Cricket Club. In those formative years of his cricketing career, he focused on learning the game, being a skilled competitor, always striving for perfection. His dedication and attitude led to his selection for the Berbice Under-15 team two years later at the age of thirteen. This “coming out” was a successful one and despite not scoring many runs in the Under-15 inter-county competition, his obvious talent earned him a place on the Guyana Under-15 team, where he then also excelled. As a result, he was selected for a special training camp of the West Indies Cricket Board 9WICB) in St Lucia.
In 2009, while only 13 years of age he scored the only century (118) in the Berbice county Under-19 inter-zone competition, something that was an outstanding achievement for the youngster who wanted to surpass his brother. He also hit a century in the 2010 Berbice Under-13 club championship.
In September 2011, Shimron received the Sports Ambassador award from the Berbice Chamber of Commerce at its annual awards ceremony.
As an aggressive opening batsman, he enjoyed considerable success in the 2012 Regional Under-19 competition in Barbados. He hit a superb 116 for Guyana’s Under-19s against Windwards n the 50-overs segment of the competition. In July 2013, he scored 105 off just 65 balls against Trinidad & Tobago in the Regional Under-17 competition in Tobago – the only century scored by any player in the competition.
In October 2013, Shimron represented the West Indies Under-19 team in several Under-19 One Day International Matches against Bangladesh in Guyana. He kept wicket in at least one of those matches.
Shimron had surely surpassed his brother when his name was called as the captain of the West Indies U-19 World T20 squad. This squad was to head to Bangladesh to take on the best young talent the other cricket nations had to offer in this format of the game.
He embraced the challenge with the same fortitude and determination that was his nature. The championship goal started with a loss against the English side, something that tested the morale of the team.
Hetmyer however inspired his team, and in their second game they came through like a Caribbean hurricane decimating Fiji and winning by 262 runs.
After that, there was a controversial win against Zimbabwe, where the team “Mankad” their way to a two-run victory. From there it was history – the team beat the Bangladesh side in the semis, then handled India in the finals and brought home the gold.
“It is hard to give the feeling of winning in words, to be honest, this was something I had dreamed of accomplishing and I had done it and I couldn’t have done it with better guys.”
His form did not dip after the tournament and proof of that was when he put the Jamaica Scorpions bowlers to the sword with a masterful 107 to secure his maiden first-class century when the Guyana Jaguars dominated the opening day of their final round of West Indies Cricket Board’s Professional Cricket League (PCL) Four-Day game at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence on March 19.
With his drive, determination and ambition, the sky is the limit for the left handed batsman from Canje, who had not only made Berbice proud, but the whole of Guyana.