… Hetmyer, Shepherd and Paul fail to make the list

CRICKET West Indies (CWI) confirmed the international retainer contracts for the West Indies Men’s Team for the 2021-2022 season but found no place for the Guyanese trio of Shimron Hetmyer, Romario Shepherd and Keemo Paul who previously held white-ball contracts.
According to a release from CWI, a total of 18 players have been offered contracts for the upcoming 2021-22 season which runs from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022.
Following his omission from all three formats during the Sri Lanka series in March when he was deemed unfit and subsequently passed the required fitness test, Hetmyer, according to CWI lead selector Roger Harper, “was still in the forefront of our mind and we are waiting for him to display the passion and consistent performances.”

Jimmy Adams, CWI’s director of cricket also confirmed that Hetmyer had met the fitness standard and he would have been available for selection for the Test series against Sri Lanka but this never materialised.
The 24-year-old was also the third-highest run-getter in the Regional Super50 tournament behind Jason Mohammed and Jonathan Carter, accumulating 280 runs in six matches at 56 while keeping a strike rate of 130.23.
Hetmyer also showed glimpses of returning to top form with some scintillating batting performances for Delhi Capitals in the IPL which suffered a postponement because of an upsurge of the COVID-19 pandemic in India.
After enjoying a fruitful tour with the West Indies A team to India, Shepherd played with limited success in the first and second ODIs against Sri Lanka while Paul, who

was plagued with injury throughout the early part of this year missed selection to the Guyana Super50 team, hence wasn’t considered for a place in the West Indies squads. For the first time Nkrumah Bonner, Joshua Da Silva, Akeal Hosein and Kyle Mayers have been awarded International retainer contracts, whilst newly appointed Test captain Kraigg Brathwaite and Darren Bravo receive International contracts for re-ball and white-ball cricket respectively.
West Indies Men’s Team Lead Selector, Roger Harper said,
“Contracts offered for the 2021-22 period see 18 players being retained, a decrease of 4 from last year. Jason Holder is the only player to retain his all-format contract due to his strong Test and T20I performances during the evaluation period.”
Mr. Harper added,

“There are several new players offered red-ball contracts earned by their strong performances during the last period. A number of players were not retained because they did not meet the minimum requirements.” CWI Director of Cricket, Jimmy Adams said,
“I am happy for all the players who have been offered retainer contracts for the upcoming period. Especially pleasing were the number of players who were awarded first-time contracts in recognition of their performances during the period under review. I know that the eleven players who have lost their International retainers will be striving and fighting hard to get back into the teams and earn their central contracts back next year.
These players, along with our T20 specialists, will ensure that we have genuine competition for places that will push everyone to attain higher standards of performance.”

The evaluation period for the 2021-22 contracts covered performances and statistics from April 1, 2020 to April 1, 2021 (this was also supported by statistics from the previous 2019-2020 evaluation period). This allows for all players to be appraised immediately after the evaluation period and provides a notice period before new contracts on July 1, 2021. All-Format Contracts: Jason Holder. Red-Ball Contracts: Kraigg Brathwaite, Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner*, Rahkeem Cornwall, Joshua Da Silva*, Shannon Gabriel, Kyle Mayers* and Kemar Roach. White-Ball Contracts: Kieron Pollard, Fabien Allen, Darren Bravo, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein*, Evin Lewis, Alzarri Joseph, Nicholas Pooran and Hayden Walsh Jr. *Players offered contracts for the first time in 2021-2022 Players who are no longer receiving

international retainer contracts are: All-Format Contracts: Roston Chase. Red-Ball Contracts: Shamarh Brooks and Shane Dowrich.
White-Ball Contracts: Sunil Ambris, Sheldon Cottrell, Shimron Hetmyer, Brandon King, Keemo Paul, Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd and Oshane Thomas.
All players who are no longer on International retainer contracts are offered an A* grade Regional Franchise Contract for the following year.
According to the CWI release, the Board invests in the long-term development of cricketers at both international and regional level by retaining 108 male players on retainer contracts each year as part of the professional cricket system.
Following the announcement of International Retainer Contracts, the six Regional Franchises will now complete the process of awarding their 15 contracts, with the Professional Franchise Player Draft due to take place on Tuesday, May 25.