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West Indies star Shimron Hetmeyer will miss the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia after missing his flight from Guyana.
- Shimron Hetmeyer could not make his initial flight for family reasons and also missed a rescheduled flight
- West Indies' director of cricket said the team was "not prepared to compromise the team's ability to prepare" for the World Cup
- West Indies play Australia on Wednesday and Friday before the tournament starts on October 16
Hetmeyer, who has played 50 T20s for the West Indies since 2018, was initially supposed to fly to Australia on October 1, but had the flight moved for family reasons.
He was then booked on a flight for Monday (local time), despite that meaning he would miss the team's first warm-up match against Australia at Carrara Stadium on Wednesday.
But when Hetmeyer told Cricket West Indies (CWI) officials that he would not be able to make it onto that flight either, the selection panel voted unanimously to replace the top-order batter with 34-year-old Shamarh Brooks.
"Whilst we changed Shimron's flight from Saturday to Monday due to family reasons, it was made clear to him that if there were any further delays and issues with his travel to Australia then we would have no choice but to replace him in the squad," WCI director of cricket Jimmy Adams said.
"We are not prepared to compromise the team's ability to prepare for this extremely important global event."
Adams said Brooks "will fly out as soon as possible this week to Australia".
After Wednesday's game on the Gold Coast, the West Indies face Australia on Friday at the Gabba.
Australia then has three more hit-outs against England before the World Cup starts on October 16.