Nezam Hafiz - A career cut short by the devastating 9/11 attacks

Nezam Hafiz – A career cut short by the devastating 9/11 attacks: It was like a normal day in New York. The Guyana born American cricketer Nezam Hafiz was on time for his duty. Inside the Marsh & McLennan Companies, office on the 94th Floor of Tower One of World Trade Centre, Nezam Hafiz did not know he was spending the last minutes of his life. The American Airlines Aircraft – Flight 11 which crashed into the building consumed a prospering career before it could flourish further. Crictracker looks back at the promising player and his life:

The person:

“He loved cricket, You would see him every day at the cricket ground.” says Cecil Hafiz, Nezam’s father.

More than his batting, it is Nezam Hafiz ‘s infectious personality that people close to him miss most of all. During the unveiling of Marsh & McLennan’s own 9/11 memorial for the 358 of their employees who died that day, a quote accompanied each person’s name as they scrolled across the screen during a tribute video. Nezam Hafiz ‘s tribute quote could have come from just about anyone who met him.

“I still see that smiling, handsome face…”

As his ex-roommate Carl Hooper reminisces: “He’d (Nezam Hafiz) go into the bath and, man, he’d be there for half an hour. He’d come out and he had these black shorts, boxers, on, and he would stand in front of the mirror and there was this little curl he had at the front of his hair, just a little curl going, a little wave going, and he would spend minutes just trying to fix it right.”

Professional Career:

An attacking batsman, his First-Class stats don’t quite reflect his true potential. A stylish no.3 batsman from Malteenoes Sports Club in Georgetown, his stroke play epitomised timing. Nezam Hafiz worked his way through the ranks as a junior player, eventually becoming the Guyana Under-19 captain in 1988, at the Northern Telecom Youth Tournament, which included other teams from around the West Indies. Nezam Hafiz showed signs of promise at U-19, scoring 116 runs in a three-day match against a Leeward Islands side that included future West Indies Test batsman Stuart Williams.

Nezam Hafiz represented Guyana in six First-Class games, but soon wrapped things up to move to USA in search of a better life. Cricket, however, remained his priority.

Nezam Hafiz experienced a particularly successful run at American Cricket Society (ACS), as the team won the Commonwealth league title seven times over the nine seasons. Along the way he was named club captain, and beginning in 1997 he also captained the Commonwelath Cricket League (CCL) squad in New York’s inter-league tournament.

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League tournament:

In 2001, Nezam Hafiz was named the vice-captain for USA’s tour to Canada. Nezam Hafiz was one of the contenders for the captain’s spot. It was not to happen, though.

Instead, if you go to Panel N-6 of the North Pool in New York you will find his name. He is just one of the 2,983 names in the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Centre site. They have renamed his residence at South Ozone Park in Liberty Avenue, Queens as Nezam Hafiz Villa. Since his death, his New York club (American Cricket Society) has been commemorating his life every year, both in New York and Guyana.