Weekly Talent Spotlight #8: Romario Shepherd
Where does this 27 year old fall in the Windies T20 House of Cards?
DISCLAIMER: THIS WEEKLY TALENT SPOTLIGHT EDITION IS FOR THE WEEK OF 6TH DECEMBER-13TH DECEMBER.
The cricketing fraternity, the West Indies pantheon in particular, have feared that their one precious remaining gem has also begun to lose its sheen: their T20I team. However, there have been promising jewelers emerging all over the Caribbean in recent times, showing promising results in the quest to retain the gem’s sheen. Here is the backstory of one such jeweler: Romario Shepherd.
Early Career
Hailing from Guyana, Shepherd played for the Tucber Park Cricket Club in his youth, which is two hours east of Providence Stadium, located in New Amsterdam.
Shepherd made his debut for Guyana U15s in the 2009/10 West Indies Cricket Board Under-15 Tournament in March 2010. His debut for Guyana U19 came a bit over two years later in the 2012 West Indies Cricket Board Under-19 Tournament (Three-Day) in July 2012, where he took 7 wickets at an average of 34.57.
Shepherd found far better success in the limited-overs rendition (50 overs) the same season, finishing as the top wicket-taker, taking 10 wickets at an average of 15.00 with an economy rate of 4.36.
In the same season, Shepherd scored a 93 in a local tournament in Berbice (the region he is from) in the 2012 Elizabeth Styles Under21 50-over tournament, which included 12 fours and a six to lift Bermine to 302.
In the 2013 edition, Shepherd was the 14th highest wicket-taker on the leaderboard but the top wicket-taker for Guyana U19, with 7 wickets across 4 matches at an average of 17.00 with an economy rate of 3.30.
Two months later, Shepherd had the opportunity to play against a touring Bangladesh U19 side in a practice match for Guyana U19, where he took figures of 1-54 in 8 overs.
The Apprenticeship
Shepherd landed an apprenticeship with the senior Guyanese side 2.5 years later, in the 2015/16 Super50, where he managed to quickly impress in the solitary opportunity against the Leeward Islands.
Shepherd scalped figures of 3-37 in his 10 overs, which included two maidens, and won the Man of The Match award on his List A debut.
A year and two months later, Shepherd made his First-Class debut in the 2016/17 WICB Professional Cricket League Regional 4 Day Tournament, finishing as the 29th highest wicket-taker, with 11 wickets across 4 matches at an average of 30.45.
Things improved in Shepherd’s first-class section of the apprenticeship the next season, taking 15 wickets across 5 matches at an average of 21.60, finishing as the 22nd highest wicket-taker.
In the next season of the Super50, Shepherd took 11 wickets at an average of 28.09 with an economy rate of 6.11 across 7 matches, finishing as the 13th highest wicket-taker.
West Indies A
In March 2018, Shepherd earned his maiden call-up for the West Indies A team at age 23, against a touring England Lions team at Coolidge, Trinidad & Tobago, bringing obvious jubilation to Shepherd.
“I’m really satisfied knowing that they [West Indies selectors] have eyes on me and have given me this call-up to the ‘A’ team.
“Obviously I have my goals but going up to ‘WI’ level is always a challenge. I just have to adapt and learn as fast as possible and take it as a learning experience.” Shepherd said.
Shepherd also received praise from the former West Indies pacer turned commentator Ian Bishop for his ability to bowl at the death.
“It was a nice feeling, receiving praises from someone like Mr. Bishop who knows how hard it is being a fast bowler on these flat tracks,” Shepherd said.
Unfortunately, his maiden outing for the West Indies A ended up being far from memorable, contributing 6 off 11 with the bat and figures of 0-24 in 2.1 overs.
The same month though, Shepherd got an upgrade of sorts, being drafted by the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the CPL18 draft in Round 15 for a $4000 contract.
Light continued to be shone down Shepherd’s tunnel, as he was selected to play for the West Indies Board President’s XI on June 2018 against the Bangladeshis in a two-day match.
Shepherd scalped figures of 1-67 in his 16 overs, including 5 maidens, with the wicket being that of internationally capped Mehedi Hasan Miraz, followed by a 26 off 44, including 3 fours and a six.
In the same month, Shepherd was selected for a tour of England Lions and played against India A and Surrey respectively.
In a four day match against India A in Taunton, Shepherd took the solitary wicket of eventual internationally capped Rishabh Pant for 3 during India A’s first innings in response to the 302 put up by the West Indies A and finished with figures of 1-30 in 9 overs, including a maiden.
In India A’s second innings, Shepherd took the solitary wicket of Abhimanyu Easwaran for 31.
Against Surrey, West Indies A played a three-day match. In the first innings, Shepherd took figures of 1-54 in 14 overs including a maiden. In the second innings, Shepherd dismissed English international Mark Stoneman for 44 and finished with figures of 1-30 in 8 overs including two maidens.
The “Trio”bago Clashes
Shepherd played 3 matches in CPL18 - ironically all of them were against the Trinbago Knight Riders - and had a fairly impressive CPL (and T20) debut.
Shepherd took figures of 3-29 in 3 overs, with all three of his scalps fairly known batsmen: Colin Munro, Brendon McCullum, and Darren Bravo respectively.
Shepherd’s maiden CPL wicket was a vital one: a slower ball in the slot that Munro mistimed and hit it straight up to get caught by Chris Green to close his opening act of a 56 ball 90.
Wicket #2 came two balls later owing to quick street smarts. Bowling it out of McCullum’s reach, he advanced down the ground in an attempt to get some bat on the ball, but unable to find the necessary power, could only find Shimron Hetmyer, and was dismissed for 2.
The final wicket came from a length every pacer dreams of nailing every ball: the yorker. Trying to take Shepherd downtown in the off-side region, Darren was only able to help it chop on straight to his leg-stump for 9.
Shepherd’s second match came in Qualifier 1, where he was not as impressive, with figures of 0-30 in 4 overs.
Shepherd’s third and final match of the season was the final, where he was able to measly improve upon his figures, scalping 1-29 in 3 overs, with a hit wicket of Denesh Ramdin for 24, and the Amazon Warriors went on to lose their fourth final, but that’s a story for another day.
Return to Domestic Cricket
In the 2018/19 Super50, Shepherd was the 15th highest wicket-taker, with 10 wickets across 9 matches with an average of 26.90 and an economy rate of 5.25.
The 2018/19 WICB Professional Cricket League Regional 4 Day Tournament saw a huge uptake in Shepherd’s First-Class career, as he played a pivotal role in helping Guyana lift their 11th First-Class title, taking 37 wickets at an average of 20.13 across 10 matches to be the second-highest wicket-taker for Guyana and fourth overall.
Owing to these performances, Shepherd found himself donning the West Indies A jersey once again in the summer of 2019, with India A touring for 5 List A and 3 Four-Day matches.
Shepherd tied with Krunal Pandya for the 3rd highest wicket-taker in the List A series, with 7 wickets across 4 matches at an average of 19.14 and an economy rate of 4.32.
Shepherd played only the second four-day match, scalping 3 wickets at an average of 28.33.
Shepherd also took part in a three-day match against the Indians, going wicketless for 35 runs in 11 overs including 5 maidens in the first innings, and the wicket of Mayank Agarwal for 13 in the second innings, finishing with figures of 1-3 in 5 overs, including 2 maidens.
CPL19
Shepherd’s CPL salary jumped from $4000 to $10,000, as he was redrafted by the Amazon Warriors in Round 10.
Shepherd also played a fair role in their near spotless campaign that season, finishing as the second-highest wicket-taker for a pacer, second highest for his team, and overall the fifth-highest, with 13 wickets across 10 matches at an average of 19.00 and an economy rate of 8.32.
In the final against Barbados Tridents, Shepherd took the solitary wicket of Alex Hales for 28, with Hales skying a length ball straight up to Brandon King, and he finished with figures of 1-29 in 3 overs.
The Amazon Warriors went on to lose their fifth final, which again, is a topic for another day.
From Apprenticeship to Recognition
Romario’s performances in recent months saw him on a flight to India, as he received a maiden call-up to the ODI squad to play Afghanistan for 3 ODIs.
“It’s a call every cricketer has been waiting for, when I got the call I was very happy to be selected in the ODI squad,” Shepherd said.
“Getting into the squad is the easier part but staying there is the harder part. I will do my best to stay there for a long time. When I am named in the starting XI, I will do what I do best and even work harder.” Shepherd said.
Shepherd played all three ODIs. His maiden ODI wicket was Rashid in the first ODI, with a length ball outside off nicked straight to wicketkeeper Shai Hope for a two-ball duck.
Shepherd finished the series with 3 wickets at an average of 33.66 and an economy rate of 5.50.
Shepherd’s next bit of international action came against Ireland in a home series.
In the ODIs segment, Shepherd played the last two fixtures and was only able to scalp a wicket, averaging 73 with an economy rate of 3.65.
Shepherd also made his T20I debut against Ireland in the second of three T20Is, with his maiden T20I wicket coming from a leading-edge off a full toss from Kevin O’Brien’s bat straight to Hetmyer to dismiss him for 4.
Shepherd finished his maiden T20I outing with figures not so memorable: two wickets across 2 matches, averaging 37.50 with an economy rate of 9.37.
CPL20
The Amazon Warriors retained Shepherd for the 2020 season in Round 10.
Shepherd finished the season with 6 wickets across 8 matches, averaging 23.16 with an economy rate of 7.31, finishing as the 28th highest wicket-taker overall.
The Year Of The Shepherd
For CPL21, Shepherd’s salary tripled, from $10,000 to $30,000 as he was retained by the Amazon Warriors in Round 8, and repaid their faith in him with both bat and ball.
With the ball, Shepherd was the second-highest wicket-taker, with 18 wickets at an average of 14.11 with an economy rate of 7.69.
With the bat, Shepherd showed his batting prowess for T20 franchises to water their mouths with, scoring 109 runs across 9 matches at an average of 21.80 with a strike rate of 165.15 with a top score of 72* off 29 deliveries against the Jamaica Tallawahs, tearing apart an attack including Andre Russell, Fidel Edwards and Migael Pretorius that helped the Amazon Warriors from 53/5 to 142/7, scoring 7 fours and 6 sixes at a strike rate of 232.25.
Technical Breakdown of Romario Shepherd
Shepherd has a high backlift, which is a must-have as a power-hitter. Shepherd has a closed grip of the bat, which means it is pointed more towards the inside edge of the bat to enable more power straight and into the legside, making Shepherd a very legside dominant player (this can be seen in his 72* against the Tallawahs, where all 6 of his sixes were in the legside region).
Bowl anything short to Shepherd, expect it to be easily muscled over the boundary covers for maximums with his build! (again, as seen in his 72* against the Tallawahs)
Another plus point of Shepherd’s power-hitting technique is that he clears his front leg, which gives him the freedom to strike any region in the park, as there is no hindrance to the bat swing, giving him easy access to the ball (as shown in the exhibit above).
However, there is little to no distance between the feet, making him an LBW candidate. Shepherd does have a trigger movement (movement of the feet just before the ball is bowled), but is compromising on balance due to the feet position. With Shepherd being a power-hitter, it would be fair to theorize that the lack of distance between the feet could be to conserve his energy/power.
For analysis on his bowling, refer to this thread.
Why was Shepherd selected for Weekly Talent Spotlight?
In the week of 6th December-13th December, Shepherd scored 56 off 35 deliveries at a strike rate of 160 in the first two T20Is against Pakistan, with a top score of 35* off 19 deliveries with a strike rate of 184.2, including two fours and two sixes, scoring against a very impressive Pakistan pace trio of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Mohammad Wasim Jr.
Earlier this week, Shepherd was also drafted by the Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League 7 Draft in Supplementary Round 2.
Tieing back to the original subject of this edition’s Weekly Talent Spotlight of players well apt to keep the West Indies T20I gem gleaming, Dwayne Bravo, inarguably one of the holy pillars of the West Indies T20I team fans have grown up watching, has identified Shepherd as one of the players to fill his shoes.
”Guys like Dominic Drakes, Odean Smith, Romario Shepherd, these are good quality all-rounders, those are names to look out for as well.” Bravo said.
Like is the case with most nations struggling to fill in the shoes stitched by the greats who bid adieu to the game as professional players, the West Indies T20I gem is not entirely rusted, it merely needs polishing by the appropriate jewelers, and Shepherd has deservedly raised his hand in being worthy of polishing it.