[2] Clinton first played for Kent's Second XI in 1971 and made his first-class cricket debut for the county against the touring Pakistanis at Canterbury in July 1974.
[3][6] At Surrey he immediately formed a successful opening partnership with Alan Butcher which lasted until the 1986 season when Butcher suffered a loss of form and was dropped down the order and then omitted from the side before being released by Surrey at the end of the season.
[citation needed] Their first wicket stands included 277 against Yorkshire in 1984, when Clinton made his highest score of 192, and 266 against Cambridge University in 1980.
The Surrey coach Micky Stewart said that he "formed the backbone of the innings, the platform from which our strokemakers can play.
He coached Surrey's First XI from 1994 to 1995 but left the county by mutual consent after "two ... seasons of unfulfilled promise".