By Daniel Massey
It was a perfect day for cricket. The sun was shining. A slight breeze blew in from the bay. A large crowd gathered. The only thing missing was Nezam Hafiz.
Hafiz, 32, a popular local cricket player from Ozone Park who is missing in the rubble of the World Trade Center, was remembered Saturday in a manner his friends thought most appropriate: They played a cricket match.
Members of New York area teams representing Guyana and Trinidad gathered in Ferry Point Park in the shadows of the Whitestone Bridge to pay tribute to a man who was famous in the cricketing community for his athletic ability, his smile and his love of the game.
The match, organized by the Richmond Hill based Indo-Caribbean Federation of North America, served the dual purpose of memorializing Hafiz and raising funds for his family.
“We feel obligated to play a game in his honor,” said Zamin Amin, the captain of the Guyana squad, who has played cricket with and against Hafiz for 10 years. “That’s what he would have wanted. That’s why we’re doing this.”
Annand Deodat, who was representing Trinidad, said “he would be happy to see us enjoying ourselves in his honor. He would have loved to be here for a cricket match.”
Guyana defeated Trinidad 225-195, but the outcome was unimportant to those who gathered to honor Hafiz.
“It doesn’t matter what country we come from,” said Deodat. “This game is being played in a cohesive way for a good friend and a good man who loved the game.”
Throughout the day, friends of Hafiz took breaks from the cricket match to talk about the man who lived for the game.
“He drew a lot of respect from opponents,” said Samuel Duke, who once roomed with Hafiz during a tour of Jamaica. “Opponents would be happy when they saw his bat leave the field.”
Steve Massaih, who was representing Guyana, said Hafiz “played the game for the love of it.”
Massaih, who immigrated to the United States from Guyana in 1998, said Hafiz was one of the first people he met when he arrived. Like many of the players present Saturday, Massaih said Hafiz was a role model to young cricketers arriving from Guyana.
“When I came over, I immediately made friends with him,” said 16-year-old Himant Puno, who arrived in the United States in July. “He gave me advice, told me what to do with the bat, how to bowl.”
Reggie Etwaroo, the manager of the Guyanese team, held up a picture that showed Hafiz grinning. “If you look at this picture, this is him,” he said. “This is a smile he always carried with him.”
Hafiz, 32, an employee of Marsh and McLennan, was working on the 94th floor of Tower 1 when American Airline Flight 11 slammed into the building at 8:48 a.m. Sept. 11.
Hafiz usually arrived at work at 9 a.m. but had cut a morning coffee appointment short to get to his desk early because he had a busy day ahead of him, Duke said.
Hafiz began playing cricket as a child in Guyana, his teammates said. He came to New York from the South American nation about 10 years ago. Before arriving in the United States, he represented Guyana at the under-19 level, where he served as a captain during the 1987-88 season.
During his career, Hafiz scored a number of centuries, the benchmark for batting excellence in cricket, including 113 runs in a 1988 match against Leewards Island for his best ever showing.
He represented the United States National Team on a trip to Canada in June and during a tournament in England last year.
In New York, Hafiz captained both the American Cricket Society team and the Commonwealth Cricket League’s inter-league team. Players were so devastated by news that Hafiz was missing in the World Trade Center that they canceled the remainder of Commonwealth’s A-league season.
Saturday was the first time they had stepped foot on the cricket oval since the disaster. In an emotional ceremony at the conclusion of the match, Hafiz’s parents, two sisters and brothers-in-law were presented with the $5,892 that was raised over the course of the day.
“If he was here, all you would get is a big smile from him,” said Amin, the Guyanese captain.
Reach reporter Daniel Massey by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 156.
