West Indies coach Simmons: Hetmyer ‘keeps letting down himself and his team-mates’ with his fitness

The 25-year-old batter was left out of their ODI and T20I squads to play Ireland and England after failing a fitness test

“It’s the same old, same old,” Simmons said in a press conference on New Year’s Eve. “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.”

Local Covid-19 restrictions have forced that fixture to be staged behind closed doors and reports in Jamaica have suggested that a testimonial match for Gayle could be held later this year in front of supporters at Sabina Park, as his international career draws to a close.

“It’s something that I would like to see start in our cricket,” Simmons said. “But when we sit down to select a squad, we sit down to select the best squad for the upcoming series.

“If it’s a case where a send-off is to happen for Chris, then for us to select him, if he’s not part of our make-up, it has to come from above us. I can’t really say if that’s going to happen later on in the year.”