LONG-STANDING cricket commentator and vital contributor to sports across the West Indies, Joseph ‘Reds’ Perreira has returned to Guyana at the invitation of President Dr. Irfaan Ali.
‘Reds’, as Perreira is commonly known, is Guyanese-born and a renowned cricket commentator, radio broadcaster and journalist, who has played many integral roles in the development of cricket and other sports in the West Indies over the decades.
Both ‘Reds’ and his wife, Zandra Perreira, are currently in Guyana, getting reacquainted with the electrifying atmosphere, and anxiously awaiting this weekend’s CPL finals. Asked how he felt about receiving the invitation from His Excellency, ‘Reds’ said, “I am extremely honoured.” Perreira, who currently resides in St. Lucia, says the invitation couldn’t come at a better time, as it’s been a while since he was last here. “I am happy to be back in Guyana since ‘COVID’.”
Perreira has been in the field of commentary for more than five decades. He has worked with various organisaations in a plethora of different sport disciplines during that time. Hailing from humble beginnings in the Pomeroon in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Perreira began his career in the period before television, and used his voice, creativity, and in-depth understanding of cricket to help listeners enjoy the game in the time of the radio, particularly in the early 1970s and 1980s.
The son of a farmer, and the fifth of nine children, Perreira spent his childhood years partaking in activities like fishing and farming. He never got involved in organised sport until 1945, when his family relocated to Charlestown, one of the many suburbs of Georgetown.
Remarkably, Perreira struggled with his speech in his youth, as he had a stammer up until the age of 20. This, however, even coupled with a host of other issues he had faced over the years, were no match for his determination to becoming known as the voice of cricket.
In his book, ‘Living my Dreams’, Perreira describes how he was able to overcome his speech impediment, saying: “I had to learn a technique, breathing hard to overcome the start of the word. As I got better at that, the confidence came, and the stammering abated; I was over the first hurdle. I had not been able to say Rodriguez to save my life; then, all of a sudden, it was like being able to breathe.”
In 1959, Perriera got his big break in radio commentary, and, in 1971, commentated in his first test match at Bourda, when India toured the West Indies.
And in the years following, Perreira began hosting a radio show in St. Lucia, and has commentated for an estimated 150 Tests. Notably, Perreira, spent time as the Sports Director of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) sports desk, and President of the St. Lucia Boxing Association (SLBA). Perreira has worked, fought for, and inspired many over the years across the Caribbean, cementing his place as the voice of cricket across the West Indies.