WELL-KNOWN veteran cricket commentator and sports journalist Joseph ‘Reds’ Perreira last Wednesday night told his audience at the Guyana Cricket Board’s (GCB) awards ceremony that his heart’s desire is for the healing of cricket in Guyana. “When I got the call to deliver the feature address at the GCB’s awards ceremony, it was not the conveyor of the message that reached out to me, but the contents of same since to my mind, we are talking about a body that is overseeing a sport in a country.
“Guyana has made tremendous contributions to West Indies and international cricket at large, a legacy that is great for our young cricketers to follow, since we have been an outstanding cricket nation and we need to believe in this and take it wherever we go.”
Addressing his audience which included Director of the West Indies Cricket Board and Chairman of Banks DIH Clifford Reis, Retired Chancellors of the Judiciary Aubrey Bishop and Cecil Kennard among other invited guests, Perreira wished for a year of less animosity in the cricket fraternity in 2012.
Perreira expressed hope that one day Guyanese players will not have to flock to Trinidad and Tobago to play cricket to earn their keep.
He also acknowledged that while Guyanese administrators and cricketers must respect what T&T has done in the further development of local players, there must come back at a time when Guyana’s standard of cricket must be elevated.
He was commenting on the professional league, which was promised to start next year by the GCB president Ramsey Ali during his presentation.
“Hopefully with this pro league idea we can see the number of our players outside reduced where the cricketers can be motivated to come and play in the local competitions, which automatically becomes higher and which will automatically attract more people because the competition and skill level are much higher.
“I look forward to the day when we ambitiously … there is no need for our people to go to Trinidad and Tobago but we must respect that T&T has done a good job in seeing the talent we have and they were good enough to give them opportunities at the various clubs,” Perreira explained.
On the other hand, Perreira renewed his call for more to be done in honouring Guyana’s cricket legends of the past, wishing that the Blairmont Community Centre ground be renamed the Roy Fredericks Ground, sending out a plea to the management of Guysuco to ponder on.
While he applauded the efforts that have been made to name streets and other landmarks after great sportsmen and women, he said much more can be done, indicating that this “will not be reinventing the wheel”.
In his closing remarks, Perreira pleaded with local cricket officials not to hurt the game, urging them “not to play politics with the game of cricket, adding that “the damage you will cause you will not be able to turn around.”
“You will hurt generations of cricket. I look at young (Tagenarine( Chanderpaul whom I had the pleasure of meeting during a West Indies presentation. If we hurt this game the likes of Chanderpaul and his natural talent, and others who are in this audience, the game will come to a standstill, just about operating.
“Let us work together to overcome our differences, to not make self the importance, to not make power the importance but let’s move on with the game by the contributions we make.
“Whether we like `Reds’ Perreira or not let us move on with what is right. Let us show the next generation and generation of Guyanese cricketers both male and female that will come on an even chance on the playing field,” Perreira advised.