T20 World Cup | West Indies batting coach Reifer hails Hetmyer’s impact

West Indies versus Italy is this T20 World Cup’s late-winter daydream. Somewhere between fantasy and a still-sinking reality, the fixture will be played out on a sunny Thursday morning at the iconic Eden Gardens.

The ground, which has hosted triumphs, collapses, and cricket that bent the spine of logic, now makes room for curiosity. A side rich with past meets a side rich with possibility. West Indies knows how to arrive. Italy is learning how to stay.

On Wednesday, West Indies batting coach Floyd Reifer said it was encouraging, “going forward into the Super Eight,” that “different individuals have put up their hands at different points in time” – “a sign,” he felt, “of a very good batting unit.” He reserved special praise for Shimron Hetmyer.

“Hetmyer came out of youth cricket in 2016 as one of the best young batters in the Caribbean. He’s a proper batter. It’s just unfortunate that he was slotted as a finisher, but now you guys are seeing the best of Hetmyer in terms of his batsmanship.

“He can bat at No. 3, score runs, and still finish games. He’s been preparing well, his training habits have improved, his work ethic is very good, and every session he’s aiming to improve on certain aspects of his game.”

Italy head coach John Davison called for warm-up matches to be recognised as official fixtures to help associate nations improve their rankings.

“I’d like to see those practice games (recognised) as official games for the lesser teams, because it’s really hard for us to improve our rankings if we’re not playing.

“So, if we’re at a tournament like this, and another associate team or any team that we’re having a warm-up game with says, ‘Let’s play a proper game for seeding,’ we’d be all for it. I don’t think it’d be too hard to organise,” he said.