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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Matthew Cooper

West Indies star Shimron Hetmyer suffers bizarre first-ball dismissal

West Indies star Shimron Hetmyer was bizarrely out for a golden duck after handling the ball in a first-class match for Guayana.

After Guyana opener Chandrapaul Hemraj was out caught for nine off the bowling of Jeremiah Louis, Hetmyer strolled to the creased with the score 16-1.

However, Hetmyer only lasted a single ball, defending a delivery from Louis which bounced back off the pitch and went towards his stumps.

Instinctively, Hetmyer turned around and smacked the ball away with his left hand, before realising what he had done and tucking it behind his back.

The Leeward Island players immediately started celebrating, but the umpires did take time to confer before giving Hetmyer out for handling the ball for a first-ball duck.

It was a bizarre dismissal for the 25-year-old and one which is exceedingly rare in cricket.

The last time it occurred in international cricket was back in 2015, when Zimbabwe batter Chamu Chibhabha was out handled the ball in an ODI against Afghanistan.

The last time it happened in a Test match was over 20 years ago, when Michael Vaughan was given out for handling the ball in a drawn match against India.

For Hetmyer, the dismissal was the latest blow to his career, with the talented young batter having not represented the West Indies since the T20 World Cup in November due to fitness issues.

He was omitted from the side which beat England in the recent T20I series and also left out for the ongoing tour of India.

West Indies coach Phil Simmons was scathing in his criticism of Hetmyer last month after he failed a fitness test, saying: "It's the same old, same old. He did his fitness assessment in Guyana last week and came way below the required mark.

"It's something that's heart-wrenching because you know that you're part of this team and you have to continue to be a certain fitness to be part of this team, and you keep letting down your team-mates.

"It's disappointing and again, we have to go back to this and I think it's something which we shouldn't have to be going back to all the time. He keeps letting down himself and his team-mates."

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