By Sham Ali
The New York cricket community and American Cricket Society in particular have lost one of the most entertaining batsmen of yesteryear. Harriman Joseph passed away on January 14, at the age of seventy-three.
A proud son from the popular village of Enmore on the East Coast of Demerara, Joe, as he was called, made a lasting impression on the greens of Enmore Cricket ground as a talented, aggressive, and flamboyant young cricketer who seemed destined for glory days in the heights of Guyana cricket. His selection to represent Guyana at the U-19 level was the beginning of what would have been an interesting journey.
But Joe left Guyana in quest of a new life on these shores, and along with his talent he packed his undying love for the game and found a home with American Cricket Society for almost four decades until his body reminded him that it was time. Joe was one of those measured hard-core cricketers who held firm to tested methods. He looked like a lion in distress whenever he got out, fretting in unfamiliar English – a proud Guyanese warrior competitor in heart and soul who could not wait for the next encounter. On the field, he threw himself around with and impression that he gave it his all, but agility was far from his liking though he played it off with a bit of swagger
Those of us who knew him over the years never expected anything different as he was a team-man who played the game hard and battled to the end. One of the most dogged middle-order batsmen in the Metropolitan League in the 1980’s, and 90’s. He was consistent and disciplined. He was tough but never paraded his toughness. It emerged in his many innings for a formidable S.P. Singh led American Cricket Society team, as a gutsy batsman and undoubtedly the backbone in his team that included stalwarts the likes of Terry Hastoo, Saheed Amin, Zamin Amin, Tony Roberts, Hazrat Amin, Trevor Walke, and the late Nizam Hafiz. Joe was a crowd pleaser is every syllable and perhaps the best batsman on the New York scene as was always echoed by his teammate Trevor Walke.
Joe offered a glimpse into his ability as a former Guyana National Youth Player when he represented the Metropolitan Cricket League in an inter-league match against Boston cricket league in Boston, Massachusetts in 1985 (if memory serves me right). His inning was a defining chapter in volumes of classical innings he has played over the years. A star-studded MCL team was reeling at 67 for 6. A relatively unknown Harriman Joseph was at the wicket when a young yours truly joined him. He met me on my way to the wicket and commanded a simple, very simple instruction, you just block the ball. Yea right! The first ball I received, I squared up for a massive square-cut that fell just short in front of the man at point, chew. Joe paced down the wicket and chose his words carefully and gently as he quoted to me some unbridled English reserved for a special dictionary, not the dictionary used in school, when he said “what….you doing boy.” Thereafter, this diminutive right handed batsman who packed a solid punch and nimble on his feet was unsung on that day. He showcased a clinic in batting as he unravel an array of blistering lofty extra-cover drives, that was his signature stroke over the years, as he lighted up the crowd. I got tired of listening to his one instruction at the end of every over and some, but was full of admiration to be in company of a cricketer of his ilk, and I was better for it as my own inning ticked over the fifty mark, and the only time he managed a slight accommodating smile, perhaps he wanted to extract a few more quotes from that special dictionary.
Subsequently, Joe was a revelation on that day, measured and possessed and in his zone, brilliant and belligerent as he stitched together an inning of pure class. He was that good and good enough on that day to amass a match-winning century. Fittingly, Joe brought up his century with his signature stroke – a maximum over extra-cover boundary. His inning was a clinical display full of class and character in much the same when the renowned and legendary commentator Joseph ‘Reds’ Perreira called his inning and his name echoed through the transistor radio in his heydays in Guyana. When his inning ended in the last over on 102 runs, the scorecard reads MCL 234 for 7, and through it all he remained unobtrusive.
Joe was never about self glorification or winning a championship, but a greater good engulfed his being and ran through his veins was his love for the game and a greater respect for his opponents. A pleasantly unassuming man who relished in the stories he told of his years on the cricket field minced with the grueling battles, and there were many. However, he had that innate ability to find humor in every sentence of the stories he told especially if he was on his third whiskey
As ever, where many cricketers falter in the finer qualities of life Joe runs deep. He was a crafty cricketer who competed in the true spirit of the game, a gentleman, and most of all he was a genuine friend. One would gather from his warm concern about others and their family that family and friendship were essential to his life and his values. More notably, you sense he was a man who held his eternal love for his family in the deep recesses of his heart.
Over the years, we have had many battles on the cricket field and Joe responded with the grit and determination that gives the game its glory. But recently, he was tasked with a challenge that caught him on the backfoot and this was the toughest match of them all that awaited him and he was at the vanguard. The man who had played some tough innings over time and stroked his way to a few centuries along the way made his way to the “crease” for one last time in a battle for his life. Individuals like him often sit under a mango tree, fretting over the consequences or oscillating over whether he really wished he had remained and played for his beloved Guyana at the senior level or perhaps felt relief that he never faced the fire at the national level or the life-ending ones like he faced. This was an inning which he didn’t anticipate so early in his life even though he had a warning a few months ago. Harriman Joseph was padded up and ready, he fought to the end until he ran out of breath and partners down here.
And for so many of us, in our travels we do not realize that we have become so oblivious to how this material world has engulfed our daily lives, that a moment for a friend or reflection on the meaning of life seemed like a lifetime of burden. Many prayed that he would pull through. Indeed, cricketers like all sportsmen come from the same society as everyone else and among cricketers are the decent, the hard-working, the gentle and the strong. In the end his frame had weakened and his inning was coming to the end, and it did, leaving so many to wonder and ponder on the inevitability of an unknown journey, and a lifetime of glory that just vanished within the blink of an eye.
May his immediate family and his extended cricket family find the strength at this most difficult time, to celebrate the many wonderful memories and moments that decorated a life well lived. May his soul rests in eternal peace. Harriman Joseph will be missed.
The members of Cosmos Cricket Club wish to express their heartfelt condolences to Joe’s family.
