The funerals for two sporting legends from the 1950s and Sixties will be held today when Sinclair “Charger” Reid and Austin “Cheesey” Hughes are laid to rest.

Reid, a footballer for Wellington Rovers who also represented Bermuda, died recently at the age of 79, while Hughes, an outstanding cricketer, footballer and billiards player, died earlier this week aged 87.

Dennis Wainwright, who played with Reid in the Rovers team that won the FA Cup in 1958 and also played against Hughes in Cup Match, described both men as upstanding individuals.

Wainwright is listed as a special friend to both men in their funeral notices, but because of a trip overseas will not be at the services today as he is attending a conference in Baltimore this weekend.

Wainwright rated Hughes as an exceptional cricketing all-rounder, whose fielding at cover point was comparable to that of Charlie Marshall in the modern era.

“[Hughes] was not only a great athlete but if you went to see him he could talk about how it used to be and he had lots of clippings and photographs to back it up,” said Wainwright, who, like Hughes, was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame.

“One of the problems we have today is a lot of the young fellas don’t want to talk to seniors, ‘oh, that was during your time’, but in those days you wanted to get close to the top players because you wanted to emulate them.

“When I saw ‘Cheesey’ playing three sports and [being] No 1 in all of them, I said there is nothing stopping me from doing the same thing.”

Added Wainwright: “When ‘Cheesey’ played football he could go from centre forward to goalkeeper and do an equally good job.

“As a cricketer he was slow medium as a bowler and could move that ball sharp. As a fieldsman at cover point he was the first that I saw who was so quick with one-handed pick-ups and throws over the stumps on the run.

“I think he was a better cricketer than footballer because he was an all-rounder, a middle-order bat and loved to take quick singles.

“I didn’t play much against ‘Cheesey’ in football but used to watch him play at the old Sports Arena. I’m very sad that I won’t be here for the funerals.”

Wainwright described Reid as one of the best defenders of his time. “Everybody knew ‘Charger’ was a top centre back, one of the best we’ve ever produced. I didn’t play with anybody who was better than him.”

The internment for Reid will take place at Richard Allen cemetery in St George’s today at 11.30am, with the service scheduled for 1.30pm at First Church of God. The service for Hughes will be held at St Paul AME Church at 2pm.