Childhood & Early Life
Shimron Odilon Hetmyer was born on December 26, 1996, in Cumberland, East Berbice-Corentyne, Guyana, to Gladstone Hetmyer and Ingrid Hetmyer. His father worked at sugar estates before retiring.
He is the youngest of four siblings. His elder brother, Seon Hetmyer, is a former senior inter-county cricket player who later followed in his father’s footsteps. He also has two elder sisters - Shonette and Shonelle Hetmyer.
At the age of six, he started accompanying his elder brother Seon to his cricket matches at the ‘Young Warriors Club’ ground every weekend. He was an instant crowd pleaser as his batting skills were evident right from the beginning. He and his brother are among an elite group of siblings who have scored centuries at the U-19 level.
He was enrolled at ‘Rose Hall Estate Primary School,’ Rose Hall, Guyana. At the age of nine, he started playing cricket at the school level. Later, he moved to ‘Berbice High School’ in New Amsterdam, where he was made the captain in tenth grade before he left school.
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Career
In 2007, he joined ‘Young Warriors Cricket Club,’ where he spent time in learning the intricacies of the game. He practiced well with his coaches who identified his raw talent.
His hard work paid off in 2009 when he made it to the squad of Berbice Under-15 team. Despite his poor performance, he was still chosen for the Guyana Under-15 team due to his natural talent.
At the age of 13, he became the only player to score a century in the Under-19 inter-zone competition in Berbice county. He is also credited for being one of the youngest players to represent an Under-19 team.
In the 2011-12 season, he represented Berbice U-17 and Guyana U-15 teams in various limited overs cricket. His performances were keenly watched by spectators and selectors.
In the 2012-13 season, he played for the Guyana U-17 team, keeping wickets at times. In July 2013, he became the only centurion of the tournament when he scored 105 runs off just 65 balls in the ‘Regional Under-17’ competition against Trinidad & Tobago.
He was also a part of the Guyana U-19 team from 2012 to 2014. In the 2012 ‘Regional Under-19’ competition, he scored 116 runs against Windwards Under-19s in the 50-overs format of the tournament.
In October 2013, he represented the West Indies Under-19 team in various Under-19 ODI matches against Bangladesh Under-19 team in Guyana. Though he played as a batsman, he also kept wickets in at least one of these matches.
His early career at the international stage did not begin well. He got dismissed without scoring in three out of five games at the 2014 Under-19 ‘World Cup.’
In the 2015–16 season of West Indies Cricket Board’s ‘Professional Cricket League,’ Shimron was drafted in by the ‘Guyana Jaguars.’ In the ‘Regional Four Day Competition,’ he scored four half centuries at a strike rate of 38.15. In the same competition, he scored a total of 496 runs, becoming the second-highest run getter for Guyana.
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He made his first-class debut for Guyana against Trinidad & Tobago at Providence on April 11, 2014, scoring 0 and 4 runs in two innings, respectively.
Under his captaincy, his team won the 2016 Under-19 ‘Cricket World Cup’ in Bangladesh.
Soon after the 2016 U-19 ‘World Cup,’ he was drafted into the ‘CPL’ team 'Guyana Amazon Warriors.' After a rocky start in the first two seasons, he finally proved his mettle by becoming the youngest centurion in ‘CPL’ when his team played against the ‘Jamaica Tallawahs.’
On April 21, 2017, he made his Test debut against Pakistan after being selected for the West Indies Test squad.
On December 20, 2017, he made his one-day international (ODI) cricket debut against New Zealand. With four centuries and two half-centuries to his name, Hetmyer had an amazing start to his ODI career.
On March 6, 2018, while playing for the West Indies team, he made his maiden century and recorded his career-best score of 127 runs against the United Arab Emirates in the 2018 ‘Cricket World Cup Qualifier.’
Thanks to his thrilling performances and an impressive track record, he was bought in the ‘IPL’ player auction by ‘Royal Challengers Bangalore’ for a whopping $596,000 in December 2018. Sadly, in the five matches that he played during his debut ‘IPL’ season, he scored a total of 90 runs at a strike rate of 123.28.
As of April 2019, he has played 24 ODI matches and has scored a total of 899 runs at an average of 40.86 and a stunning strike rate of 110.
As of April 2019, he has played13 Test matches with 25 innings from which he has scored a total of 754 runs at an average of 30.16 and a strike rate of 75.7.
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Awards & Achievements
In September 2011, he was conferred with the ‘Sports Ambassador’ award by the ‘Berbice Chamber of Commerce.’
In 2018, he was recognized as one of the ‘five breakout stars in men's cricket’ by the ‘International Cricket Council.’
He had phenomenal strike rates of 134.92 and 118.47 in domestic T20s and international T20s, respectively.
His centuries at the club/county level made him the talk of the town. He has the distinction of being CPL's youngest centurion at the age of 21.
His score of 206 runs in three innings which includes a match-winning 125 off 93 balls in Bangladesh in mid-2018 is one of his career highlights.
In February 2019, he scored the fastest century by a West Indian player against England when he reached the three-figure mark in just 82 balls.
