The 2018 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) was a breakout season for Shimron Hetmyer, which he has used as a platform to further his international career and get picked up in other T20 tournaments such as the Indian Premier League (IPL). Having finished last season as the Guyana Amazon Warriors’ top scorer with 440 runs, including a maiden T20 hundred, Hetmyer says he will be trying hard to improve on those stellar returns when the 2019 CPL gets underway on 4 September.
“Well, I’ll be looking to outdo it but let’s see how it goes. At this point I’m really feeling good about my batting where that is concerned and my overall game as well, so I’m looking to take it one step at a time and just try as much as possible and as hard as possible to try and take Guyana one step further this year.”
The CPL has played a big part in the development of many young players from the Caribbean, and Hetmyer says he has learned a huge amount from the tournament.
“It’s taught me a lot actually. It’s brought me up to the world stage knowing different players from around the world and playing against some of the guys I’ve never played against before. [CPL] helps because you basically play with some of the guys that’s more established and in and around the international stage. It always helps in different ways, it gives the younger guys a little bit of a chance to rub shoulders with some of the more experienced guys on the team and some of the more experienced guys have played world cricket and from other countries as well.”
“So it all helps you as a young player to develop your game and to know your strengths and weaknesses, and work on them as early as possible so when you do get to that stage it gets a little bit easier for you and you make a less amount of mistakes.”
Hetmyer was one of three Guyanese players the Amazon Warriors retained before the draft took place, and he is very pleased with the rest of the squad that has been selected for the upcoming tournament.
“I think it’s a great pick. I must commend the management staff on picking such a well-rounded team. I would say also a very young team we have this year as well, with the exception of Shoaib. For us now it’s just about basically getting the right combination on the park on that specific day. We do have a very good team on paper so it’s all about us now just going out and putting on a very good show on the field.”
The Amazon Warriors have made the CPL final four times, including in 2018, and Hetmyer says he really wants to bring that CPL trophy home to Guyana.
“That’s the feeling I’m actually waiting to explain on that stage, I’m waiting for when we actually get to that hurdle and just stepping over it. Last year was heartbreaking for us to get, for us to be working that hard to get to that final and then we just lost it in that last game. So, it’s just about going out this year to just do our best yet again in our group stages, in our group stage matches, and then just take it one step further this year in the final.”
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