With over 300 international matches as a cricket commentator under his belt including 147 Tests, the legendary Joseph “Reds” Perreira on Tuesday embarked on a mission along with the support of the National Sports Commission (NSC) to begin Guyana’s first ever sporting memorabilia club.
Joseph “Reds” Perreira
The veteran commentator told the gathering at the NSC head office, Homestretch Avenue of the way he sees this going and why he his pressed on having Guyana remember it’s rich history.
Among those embracing the vision of “Reds” were Director of Sport Christopher Jones and NSC Chairman Ivan Persaud who both were adamant about its prospects.
Persaud related his first reaction after being invited to discuss the prospects of this venture was that “this is awesome” while Jones said the “recommendation to establish archives where we would feature athletes from various disciplines in the form of memorabilia we will have them on display in a strategic place from when these disciplines came to now.”
The NSC Chairman went on to compare the world to what Guyana is aiming to achieve, he mentioned “all over the world the athletes are kept on show so the younger ones coming up can know and remember them and the things they did and give them some form of motivation.” Adding that “this can go well for sports tourism, when compared to Barbados who has an entire hall dedicated to their cricketers, we can do the same for all our athletes where the young ones can be a continuous part of history.”
“Reds”, whose voice is recognized in every household in the Caribbean and millions worldwide, said he has had this idea for quite some time, remembering his visits to Guyana’s sister countries Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados.
“At the Queens Park Oval (Trinidad and Tobago) there is one but there really is no access to school children, the public, and in Barbados it’s a little bit more open, I’m hoping in Guyana we can come along and learn about our history.” Reds said.
With Perreira’s desire to have the centre accessible to school children and the public, the Director of Sport has identified the National Racquet Centre as the ideal place to have this initiative birthed because of the heavy traffic of students and a wide cross section of the public.
Meanwhile, “Reds” has decided that he will take up the mantle and become the first donor to the club.
“I thought if I started with a small donation of mine by donating the stumps from a 1994 test match at Sabina Park which was his 100th test match as a commentator and I didn’t know umpire Steve Bucknor quietly pulled the stumps and set up this quiet presentation and after gave me as a gift. I’ve had it since 1994 and I’ve kept it as best as I could in my closet not exposing it to the light.” Reds said by jokingly mention he could sell it on E-bay but rather it go in history.
However, this is only the beginning, the master of the microphone went on to say that “the hope is that we could display a blazer, a Colin Croft boots, a bat, a jersey, a picture of Lance Gibbs, a ball he might have, the sky is the limit,” as he emphasized that Director Jones and NSC Chairman Persaud has gotten off to a running start.
Closing his presentation of a signed jersey from the last game he called, the drawn match of Guyana Jaguars and Barbados Pride at the National Stadium, Providence, the bat and a few other articles from his collection.
“We have a great history, we have produced two presidents of the West Indies Cricket Board, we have produced two secretaries of the West Indies Cricket Board, we have produced many world class, world respected cricketers, Rohan Kanhai, Basil Butcher, Alvin Khallicharan, Roy Fredericks, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan and others, stated the Pomeroon-born Perreira.
Joseph Perreira began his career as a commentator in 1961 when he was sent to Rose Hall to call the game between British Guiana and Trinidad & Tobago and 55 years later has officially flicked the switch on his First Class career as a ball by ball commentator.
Over the years, the 77 year old has presented in all of the Test playing nations except Bangladesh. “Reds” will spend his retirement days with his wife, Guyanese Zandra De Florimonte in St Lucia where they reside.
