Veteran cricket commentator Joseph “Reds” Pereira was back in Guyana on March 8 for a welcome night at the historic Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC), Borda. Tributes poured in for the Reds from greats including Sir Clive Lloyd.
Sir Clive Lloyd reflected on the past memories between him and the Reds and he recalled how they grew up together from their youth.
“We have been friends for quite a long while. He has seen me grow from a young guy to a Test cricketer. When I came to England for the first time in 1969, he was there, and I bought my first pair of shoes, he was my company. I must say he is very enthusiastic.”
“He is someone I respect, and he has done extremely well with his commentary. We have been all over the world travelling. I can only wish him the best.”
“When he (Reds) was injured in Australia, my friends looked after him and nursed him back to health.”
Legendary commentator Reds spoke in which he recalled how a formidable Barbados team under Garfield Sobers defeated a combination of players like Kanhai, Butcher and Solomon.
The veteran commentator who spoke further and he spoke about the importance of cricket in bringing everyone together regardless of color and race.
“If it is one thing that brings us together, it is sport, and in particular cricket.”
“The inter-colonial series started. When the likes of Kanhai, Butcher and Solomon put together a score that beat the mighty Barbados team under Sir Garfield Sobers, Guyanese were happy.”
“Guyanese were brought together, and it did not matter their colour, their race. Guyanese were happy that were beating Barbados. That was in the 50s.”
“You then move on to 1965, when Lance Gibbs bowled out Australia here in a Test match. Nobody was thinking about which ethnic group he came from. It was a Guyanese making a contribution for the West Indies to win. Guyanese were brought together.”
He also said that the period of the COVID-19 pandemic was a very rough experience.
“It is really good to be home. There were times during COVID-19 when I had my doubts if I would ever get back to Guyana, because it was a very rough time.”
‘Reds’ also stressed that he never thought he would become a commentator and that moving to Georgetown changed everything.
“It was never written in the wind or written in the stars that I would be a commentator. It was like wanting to be a racing driver with bad eyes, but I fell in love with cricket when I came to live in Georgetown.”
Many people are calling for the media center in Providence to be named after the Reds, he said, adding that it should be named after former West Indies opener Roy Fredericks.
He hosts a radio show in St. Lucia, where he lives, has commented on 150 “Reds” Test matches and has been the voice of cricket in the West Indies.
Eery time we loose it’s the same reasons being given .
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We did not make enough runs .
I say that we are not good enough. And that’s a fact.