The Commentators’ Box at Providence should be named after Reds Perreira

Dear Editor, Joseph ‘Reds’ Perreira is a man to be admired. Like me he came from humble beginnings and he rose to the top in cricket broadcasting ‒ from the hinterland of Pomeroon to Lords cricket ground in London, the cricket headquarters of the world. He broadcast as well from grounds in Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Mumbai, Sri Lanka, Kensington Oval and Sabina Park, not forgetting Bourda where he had his debut in 1971 with West Indies v India, as well as several other grounds in the cricketing world.

Reds overcame many odds turning adversity to opportunity. He stammered a lot in his early days and later in life he had a stroke and was bedridden for months, which he overcame and moved on in life. I recall when he joined the Guyana Broadcasting Service (GBS) in 1968 as assistant to Cecil ‘Bruiser’ Thomas. He encountered difficulty starting off reading the sports news because of his speech impediment. I had on a few occasions to clap him on the back to give him a ‘send off’. He was always determined and a gogetter.

As Ron Sanders wrote when Perreira launched his book Living my Dreams, Reds has set the example that should inspire young people throughout the world, but especially in his native West Indies. He added that when he (Reds) moved to Georgetown at the age of six, he had never heard a radio or knew that a world existed beyond the Pomeroon river and feeding the pigs on his father’s farm. Reds had a serious problem because of his inability to speak fluently and confidently. Decades later he was one of the best cricket commentators, rubbing shoulders with the world’s top commentator, John Arlott, Brian Johnson, Freddie Truman and Tony Cozier when he covered the 1975 World Cup Final at Lords.

Reds had tremendous initiative. I recall Hugh Cholmondeley, the General Manager of GBS sent him to cover a boxing match in Port of Spain in which a Guyanese boxer participated. I’m not sure if the boxer was Lennox Blackmore. Reds apparently could not get entry to the ringside to cover the match and he went into his hotel room and reported blow by blow from the television to GBS radio which was broadcast live. In those days there was no television in Guyana. He did a fantastic job as Sports Organizer for the OECS in St Lucia in organizing sports for the sub-region. He was excellent in securing sponsorship from business houses in the region. I recall while Reds was covering cricket in Australia he would call the