WAVELL Hinds does not plan to leave the Hanover Eastern pitch scoreless, roughly two years from now when a parliamentary election is constitutionally due.

By that time, the former international West Indies left-handed batsman would have hoped to put together a solid campaign strategy, with consistent pace and bounce, and which ie even , to destroy any bowling attack from the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).

Hinds, in a recent interview with the Jamaica Observer, noted that he wants to contribute to nation- building. That is the reason he was named among the Opposition People’s National Party’s (PNP) slate of candidates for its western Jamaica machinery recently.

His decision to represent the party in the next general election was influenced, he said, by policies of former Prime Minister Michael Manley — particularly in education and housing.

“I want to [contribute] in an impactful way. I have seen enough from my young days as a footballer, as a cricketer, and I’ve seen enough from just following the discourse in Parliament and how it plays out in the media. I believe that the time is right for changes to be made and for the conversation to go in a different way toward an evolving world and where Jamaica fits in,” said the West Indies Players’ Association president.

The former Jamaica and West Indies batsman believes, more importantly, that he can improve the lives of residents in Hanover Eastern, where several of his relatives call home.

“There are persons in Eastern Hanover, as I know it, who do not have access to potable water, do not have access to electricity, do not have rehabilitated roads leading to their communities. There are persons in Eastern Hanover who are willing to work, but do not necessarily have the resources to access education. We won’t find the answers all at once, but I believe that policies and the will to execute are what will make the difference in the lives of persons in eastern Hanover.

“I am overly passionate about serving people. I have been serving my country from I was 17 years old as an under-19 cricketer and I did so for three years. and I have served my country as a senior cricketer for 16 years, so service is nothing new to me. I want to extend that service at the local level,” said Hinds, who played 45 Test matches, scoring 2,608 runs; 119 One-Day Internationals with an aggregate of 2,880 runs; and five Twenty/20 Internationals, scoring 30 runs.

But Hinds will have to convince constituents that it will not be business as usual in a constituency where his party was king for 14 out of the last 26 years.

According to the trade unionist, he knows the area and is intimate with the issues affecting residents there.

“I know that Eastern Hanover is very prime to explode into greatness, but it has not been given the attention it desperately needs. It has not been positioned as a place for development. What D K Duncan has done from 2007 to 2016, the continuity of that has not manifested itself in the way that it should have. I want to add to that,” Hinds said.