By Sham Ali (Cosmos Cricket Club)
Clifford S. Hinds -- jovial, gentle, pragmatic and purposeful; a magnanimous man whom merged many wide-ranging attributes across an accomplished life -- died on September 21 in New Jersey, four days shy of his 84th birthday.  A man with a decorated record of service to cricket as a player, coach, and administrator, whose pride and joy was birthing the United States of America’s first women’s cricket team in 2003.
Clifford Hinds (center) stands with Krish Prasad at Canarsie Park at the New York Region vs. Atlantic Region game. Photo by Sham Ali

Saddened is a word tossed around with abbreviated syllables these days in an end-of-season for elder statesmen.  The meaning often gets lost as it travels through the airwaves in a society of varied tongues and countless variables with a half-life of one minute, but in the Metropolitan Cricket League (MCL) the loss is real, the feelings are real, the brotherhood is real, knitted together in decades of genuine friendship, decency and an unwavering respect for each other.  Real, for a man who reigned large and left an indelible impression on the MCL -- a place that he loved and called home for almost four decades.  The life of Clifford Hinds was one that fully justified any accolade bestowed upon this son of Jamaican soil.  One of the few fanatical cricket students, consistent and disciplined, a dedicated club cricketer, and an astute administrator.  Hinds found far wider acclaim as a learned student of cricket, whose scholarly analysis of the cricketer’s consciousness informed every word he spoke.  Behind it all was a tormented soul, one that was eternally restless in his quest for a more structurally sound environment for the sport.  That was the irrevocable union that fused cricketers with the game, one that defined them and a pursuit that consumed their lives since they were teenagers.

Few have been more willing to talk about cricket, or any sport, and wrestled as evocatively as Clifford Hinds, and bold enough to challenge the norms.  A gentler, more sensitive observer of the game has rarely drawn breath.  At a time when judgments are so often harsh and the accent is on serious analysis of techniques and tactics in a cluttered electronic world, Clifford Hinds’ cricketing figures were necessarily delivered with ‘that West Indies’ bias of flare and flamboyance - even when they were happily presented as flawed characters, they were all the more magnificent.

Many have crossed this path before and many more will do so, but few will be able to ‘fit the shoe’ of Clifford S. Hinds.  The United States of America cricket fraternity and particularly the New York Metropolitan Cricket League have lost a giant.  Clifford Hinds was born in St. Andrew, Jamaica.  He attended St. Mary’s Elementary School, St. George’s College and Dinthill Technical High School before attending Mico Teacher’s College and subsequently worked for the government first as a teacher and then as a youth club organizer before he migrated to the USA.

A dedicated and hard-working administrator who never gave up on an opportunity to promote cricket, and through it all he gave of himself, decades of unselfish sacrifice for the cause.  He was elected president of the MCL in 1996 after serving as vice-president under another stalwart of the MCL, Clement ‘Busta’ Lawrence.  Hinds was instrumental in this writer’s involvement in the MCL administration and the New York Region (NYR).  Prior to him being elected MCL President, I received a call from Hinds to have a meeting, and he inquired whether I wanted to run for the position of corresponding secretary, actually, he insisted on incorporating the ‘young blood’, and the rest is history as his understudy.  He urged me to pick up the mantle after he decided to end his tenure in 2001 due to health issues, but the MCL had more capable personalities, and Mascelles Bailey fitted that leadership position perfectly, and I remained as the corresponding secretary.
Hinds at a USACA trial at Woodley Park in California. Photo by Sham Ali

The MCL was on firm footing and when Hinds was elected the 26th President, however, he had a vision to further enhance the League’s prestige.  He had managed the MCL team in the NYR inter-league competition.  The MCL team was a powerhouse with the likes of Ashmul Ali (captain), Alfie Walker (vice-captain, wicketkeeper), Ken Williams (captained two seasons), Compton Adams, Ed Lewis, Trevor Walke (captained one season), Hazrat Amin, Clem Thompson, Zamin Amin, Sham Ali, Terry Hastoo, Saheed Amin, Raldo Brissett, R. ‘Jumbo’ Hamilton, Norris Gordon, Dwight Meikle, Ray Winter, Harriman Joseph, Richard Staple, Ram Goolsarran, Herbert Carrington, John Slocombe,  Devon Campbell, Eswart ‘Cobla’ Thomas, Robert Henriques, Ballister McLiesh, Everton Mattis, and Roy ‘Country’ Ricketts.  I can still hear Hinds’ proud reverberations in his familiar Jamaican tone, “cho them other leagues couldn’t touch us.”  The MCL won the Inter-League competition eight times between 1989 through 1999, including seven consecutive years (1989--1995) under his management and executive leadership.

He proceeded to champion his cause as an educator with a love for sports in his early years.  Despite myriad challenges, he felt that an investment in the youths could deliver massive returns -- the youth program for the NYR henceforth became his vision.  The program started with the MCL where he solicited the expertise of Ashmul Ali to pool the youth resources of the League.  The MCL youth team was a solid group managed by Hinds and coached by Ashmul Ali and captained by Mark Baker with Barrington Bartley, Kyron Andrews, Sunesh Wazid, Willy Charles, Ricky Kissoon, Nalburn Whittaker, Andrae Hooper, Nico Cyrus, Orlando Baker, Dennis Evans, Clement Walsh, Arosh Mataraarachchige, Omar Wright, Andrew Allen, and Keeble Thomas.

Hinds subsequently approached Krish Persaud – the then Eastern American Cricket League (EACA) President and NYR Director – to forge a youth program in the NYR with the primary goal of furthering the development of cricket in the NYR by getting the youths involved in cricket via an inter-league youth competition.  The MCL team was well organized, as well as the EACA; however, the other five leagues struggled.  The program gained some traction for a few years with the MCL and EACA as the driving forces, but NY cricket never failed in its deliverance despite lack of interest from the other five leagues.  Nevertheless, the program remained active with the NYR youth team competing against the other regions.

After exiting the presidency of the MCL, Hinds later became active in the NYR, and in 2003 he embarked on another bold adventurous and defining vision -- a women’s cricket team was conceived and pioneered by none other than Clifford Hinds.  He appeared infatuated in his relentless pursuit to introduce women to cricket in the US, it underpinned the importance of diversification and changed forever the general complexion of the game in the United States.  Hinds pooled resources from near, far and wide while he wrestled with the challenges to get the cricket leagues and other regions to recognize the necessity for women’s cricket in the US.  This effort, though with its roots in New York, began to gain momentum and grew wings across the length and breadth of the United States.  It was a challenge for this “soldier” but Hinds, as focused as he was, and as judicious a student of the game, he championed this cause with reckless abandon!  It was the beginning of a story that will only add volumes of pages to the opening chapter in US cricket as the years rolled by, and indeed, it remained perhaps the single most significant achievement for the sport in the United States for the last five decades.  The blossoming of the current US women’s cricket team is a true testament of the grassroots efforts initiated by Hinds, whom was responsible for planting the seeds.

Hinds had his calling, in a society of countless variables and endless sporting opportunities, selective moral standards did not reside in his DNA.  As if the gods smiled on him, he was contacted by Cricket For Change, UK to start a cricket program for the visually impaired and physically handicapped, he immediately sprung into action.  No effort was put forward in futility; it was always a duty inscribed on his soul to pave the way for a better tomorrow.
Clifford Hinds on left at a Metropolitan Cricket League final,  right, speaking at a USACA special general meeting at JFK Marriott in New York. Photos by Sham Ali

Hinds was an intelligent and crafty administrator.  He was able to navigate through a cricket environment that was both turbulent and toxic at times, however Hinds remained steadfast in his approach with a primary focus on bringing all stakeholders together for the betterment of the sport.  Despite his academic accolades, an alumnus of Fordham Law School and an Officer of the Court, he never paraded his accomplishments or pursued the quest for self-aggrandizement; a trait that escaped many in this environment.  Even though his opportunities were endless in a corporate world, he never paraded his accomplishments, instead Hinds chose his brethren of all ages and walked calmly amongst them with that rare air of humility.  He was ever so willing to offer invaluable counsel to the youths pushing them to understand that their possibilities were limitless.

As a loyal student of the game, if for some reason one so chose to engage Hinds at a cricket match, they had to be prepared for his many stories underscoring his point, notwithstanding a few trappings minced into the conversation, perhaps for the entire duration of the cricket match.  His judgments were based not merely on the wholesome understanding of the game but on a wider understanding of society, history and human behavior, and his ability to connect the dots.  Like all good administrators, he was observant and deeply affected by the failings of the leagues and clubs.  In his later years, he remained aggrieved by the gradual decline of leadership standards at the turn of the century, and a new generation’s contempt for tested methods and a nonchalant disregard for the spirit of the game, but more so, in the last decade and a half by the moral turpitude and dismissiveness by corporate forces that acted with impunity and trampled upon cricket in the NY region that deemed it insignificant.

His idiosyncrasies often collided, even as he grappled with his own complexities which appeared at greater than the sum of its parts.  He was fearless and frank, sometimes too frank, he was bold sometimes too much so, and at times quite sensitive for a person who never held back from expressing his views on the affairs of the game. 

Hinds led the MCL with distinction and an undying love for cricket.  He proudly stood on the shoulders of past leaders of the MCL and was immediately preceded as President by the likes of Derrick Scott and Clement ‘Busta‘ Lawrence.  He in turn provided an equal platform for those who succeeded him, namely Mascelles Bailey, Sam Belnavis, Trevor Walfall, Clifford Roye and presently Dervon Wallace.  His earnest hope for the game in all of his endeavors was to ignite the passion and fuel the fire that resides in all cricketers.  Unfortunately, that passion was dimmed and transformed into razzmatazz entertainment at the turn of the century, and the game that once prided itself on the highest standards of quality, class and finesse became poorer for it.
Hinds at a New York Region marketing meeting.

He was an unapologetic romantic, showering those he spoke about with praise and devotion and, more-often-than-not, in a rush of compound adjectives.  In his exchanges, sentimentality or nostalgia were qualities to cherish.  Hinds retained an almost boy-like enthusiasm for cricket into his adult years and a completely non-envious admiration for its performers; his is the blend of romanticism, relish and sheer delight.  A gentleman of not mere surface charm or the easy lightness of confident sociability, he made sure he fulfilled his duties and obligations without drawing attention to himself or making a fuss.  The players will miss a friend and officials will be saddened by the absence of a colleague -- few were prepared for the end.  That confident gentleman with another plan in a folder rolled in hand, his signature wide brimmed cricket hat, in his chair at the cricket ground, holding court, but never missing a ball, will no longer be there.

Clifford Hinds was a class act!  Above all he was always courteous, constant, and always the same, whatever the circumstances or the company as he was always – warm, self-deprecating, and concerned about the lives of others and his willingness to offer help and advice were central to his life and his values; the qualities of a caring man.

For a confident, aggressive man who could have written an exhaustive book on the artless art of leadership on and off the cricket field, he was a better and more caring person while retaining his sense of humor.  His oration could be too florid for some tastes as he was a loveable old rogue when it came to embellishments - it was often joked that in his trips down memory lane Hinds had often inadvertently imagined himself, after a few trips to the bar, as he dipped into his imaginary shelves of cricket tours, he had an eye for greater truths.  You could tell from just one ball bowled or one shot played that he was a cricketer of good ilk.  His hard work was driven by the desire to give a full expression of himself, and he did it not with a bat or ball but dignified with a leader’s pen which gave the game that signature symbolism of a purposeful practitioner.

Hinds was a man of substance, morally serious and intellectually curious.  For all his understatement, he couldn't fail to convey those qualities to anyone who watched him properly.  He loved life but life does not allow us to design our departures, and Hinds got another lease on life after a dreaded diagnosis years ago, and thereafter, his battles with illness lent his features an eerie plasticity.  His face, which once had a craggy grandeur, began to show signs of fragility, and that echo in his voice had lost a few decibels, yet it didn't slow down -- quite visibly, an illustrious journey was nearing the end.  He was tired and frail and lost a major percent of his body mass, however, that ‘heart’ of his and his unwavering passion for the game never relented, it just picked him up and got him to the cricket ground for ‘more talk’ and ‘nuff talk.’  His physical structure was bordering on skeletal, a material contrast versus the sturdy, gregarious character he had been for most of his eventful life.
Photo by Sham Ali

When the cricket world deliberates the who’s who amongst those that have made a difference to the game during their lifetime, the name Clifford S. Hinds will ring loudly in the minds of cricketers and administrators in the United States and undoubtedly will be engraved in the historic annals of US Cricket.

The most glowing accolades that may be bestowed upon a Cricket legend are usually attributable to his on-the-field performance at the national and international level.  Such recognition, though not misplaced, is at times incomplete as not nearly enough attention and recognition is directed to the grassroots cricketers and administrators.  Throughout the rich legacy that is West Indian Cricket, few have consistently delivered at the extraordinary level deserving of vigorous and complete recognition for performance away from the national limelight.  Clifford Hinds is a monumental exception because of his enduring, determined, persistent and successful work as a cricket administrator in the United States.  Befittingly, in 2009, cricket’s most prestigious organization – the International Cricket Council (ICC)– bestowed upon Clifford S. Hinds the coveted International Cricket Council Centenary Medal of Honor for his stellar and untiring contributions to cricket.  It was only a matter of time that another prestigious cricket fraternity - the United States Cricket Hall of Fame in Hartford, Connecticut, also honored the pioneering work of Clifford S. Hinds in 2010.  Who knew what else was behind the vision of this dedicated student of the game towering with all the past inductees.  The entire cricket family saluted him for his unprecedented contribution to cricket, and when asked about his International Cricket Council (ICC) Centenary Medal of Honor award, he stated rather humbly with a little twinkle in his eyes, “I made my contribution for the mere love of the game.”

It was with that love, where many cricketers flatter to deceive, Clifford S. Hinds’ runs deep.  He was the 'link' man binding players to officials in a manner to be envied, and he was at the helm when the MCL was the premier league in the New York cricket world.  Pride and differences in opinions have caused plenty of arguments and disagreements and lost friendships.  Hinds was never carried away with the success and requisite need for the development of cricket; hence, he often found a way to bridge men and their might under one cloud.

After serving his term as President of the MCL, Hinds remained active.  There is little doubt that Clifford Hinds was one of the MCL’s true loyalists; man of many parts, a pioneer, a steadfast character, a cricketer and an official of rare gifts.  There is something mystical about his work, as if an attempt was made to draw a line under all that had gone before, but that another force remained to deny it.  We shall never know, but behind that affable manner hid inner steel, removed his mask and put a creative mind to rest.  By being so spiritually aware of what was beyond the physical world, he became an irresistible conscience for those of us left behind.  The game ignores his teachings, and leaders their duty at their own peril. Hinds would often connect with me on my articles on cricket, the controversial ones, and sang praises especially of those on the obituaries of the MCL stalwarts in his true self “Sam boi, you writing. I thought you well” to which I would respond, “wait until I write yours, Cats”.

I will miss him.  We will miss him.  The wisdom, the kindness, the profound incisions, the child-like simplicity of his humor, the colloquial realism, the lack of ego, the debatable rants, and how this and that collide, the high standards, the hard but fair marking, the counsel given and taken, disdain of invectives, the shared love of so many things that stretch heart and mind.  Above them all is friendship.  His vision ensured that his fame was less dimmed in old age than that of his peers, some of whom without such a focus, faded from memory.  Clifford Hinds is survived by his loving children and grandchildren. 

That once full-of-life rambunctious character that once bore its fame slowly, surrendered a frail and fragile frame on its journey to dwell on a land that is fairer than day.  Clifford S. Hinds is gone! Laid to rest. Farewell to a Pioneer. Farewell to a Giant. Salute to a Dear Friend.