REDS, AN ICON CALLS IT A DAY

On the day Joseph ‘Reds’ Perreira was to broadcast his final cricket match in Saint Lucia before

Joseph ‘Reds’ Pereira
Joseph ‘Reds’ Pereira

settling into retirement from broadcasting, he was instead sitting with me at a popular Rodney Bay café relating how the broadcasting of cricketing had taken him throughout the cricketing world.
Surely, it was not how he had anticipated ending his long love affair with the gentleman’s game. But a low tropical trough had dumped so much rain on the Darren Sammy Cricket Stadium that play had to be abandoned.
It was the fourth and final day of a regional match between ‘Reds’ native Guyana and the Windward Islands. There was however sufficient play on the first two days to earn Guyana first innings lead while sinking the Windward’s team into further despair.
As a child, Reds suffered the unenviable inability to speak clearly due to severe stuttering. He loved the game of cricket more than anything else in the world. His first recollection of being glued to rediffusion radio station was during the England versus West Indies test matches in England in 1950.
During that series John Arlott, Rex Alston and E.W. Stanton of England were to make a lasting impression on the young Perreira as they described the game, ball by ball, from the commentary box.
The following year (1951) when West Indies toured Australia Reds listened to the broadcast of these matches from 11pm to 4am. He listened intently to Australian commentators Jonny Moyes, Michael Charlton and Allan Mc. Gilvrey.
‘I became even more fascinated by the theatre and imagery of the game. I could see in my mind’s eyes the perfect green outfield as I listened to the crowd’s applause and saw the polished red sphere raced to the boundary from a perfectly timed cover drive.’ Reds was later to broadcast Australia versus West Indies test matches with Mc Gilvrey in 1973, 1978 and 1979.
‘I began to watch inter-colonial matches in my teens. The games were between British Guiana (BG), as it then was Barbados, Trinidad and Jamaica. The first regional game I witnessed was between Barbados and BG. I was there for the highest opening partnership of 390 runs between Leslie White and Glendon Gibbs of BG – White 260 and Gibbs 216. That record lasted for 50 years. In those days my father, who was a very strict man, had given me a choice between the movies and cricket as recreation. I chose cricket.’
As the young Perreira watched he also listened to the broadcasts. By then he had dabbled in second division cricket and soon came to the realization, that he should concentrate on broadcasting the game, rather than pursue it as a career. He used to lie in bed every day broadcasting cricket from imaginary contests. His mother listened without ever asking him to desist, or to suggest that her son may have been a little off kilter.
‘I credit my mother for her subtle support in helping me overcome my embarrassing stuttering. However, the children at my school (St. Mary’s R.C.) were not as kind and supportive. I literally abandoned school in my teens because of the constant teasing.’
After school Reds worked for a short period and then left for England for five years to develop himself. ‘In England, I knocked around the BBC where Alva Clarke of Saint Lucia worked as a broadcaster. I also watched a lot of test and county cricket.

how old is Reds now.... ::confused::

dunno man, I listened to himas a kid on Radio .......back home !

when he Debut on Radio Demerara/ Guyana Broadcasting Service ~

Him, Ron and Ray Robinson, Vic Insanally, Ron Sanders  et al

BL Crombie methink was their mentor.