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Joseph Reds Perriera pays tribute to Ron Legall
The Guyana cricket fraternity has lost an outstanding scorer and statistician, and made an immense contribution to the broadcasting of cricket in Guyana for close to 40 years. It was a young Ron Legall that developed his early scoring skills while working for the British Guiana Cricket Board at the time, and I can almost see, as I write, Ron sitting along with his then mentor, Mr Barnwell in the Kenny Wishart stand. His career blossomed with the advent of the Guyana Broadcasting Service (GBS) in October of 1968. And it’s well documented by Guyanese and Caribbean listeners that it brought cricket coverage to a new level.
Anyone who knew Ron Legall well, would know that he was a mild-mannered individual, a gentleman indeed ,who hardly lost his temper or raised his voice, even in the most arduous of situations. In the early days of GBS, Ron was an important member of the commentary panel, and without him, the level would not have been the same. He worked with a team which included myself, Cecil Thomas, Rocky Mann, Ron Willock, Frank Bettancourt and Stanley Moore.
The GBS team later included the world rated Tony Cozier, and the overseas voices of Don Mosley, Chris Martin-Jenkins, Henry Blofeld, during tours by England, while the voices from Australia were Allen Mcgillvrey, Jim Maxwell and Nevil Oliver.
Ron in his early days, used the traditional scoring book before switching to the more modern method used by the BBC scorers. Due to the kind of preparation prior to a match, he was always quick with his stats and had a way of virtually knowing what the commentators would need at the end of an innings or after a brilliant bowling spell. Before the commentary was concluded for the various sessions, the on air commentator will have the figures for the entire session and the number of runs scored between start and lunch, at tea and at close of play.
Ron was respected by all the commentators he worked with including both local and international voices. He carried out his duties at a time when there was no Cricinfo or Google, and he relied a great deal on information from the Cozier cricket annual, his Wisden and his personal stats.
Legall was never a selfish individual and reached out and assisted many who were interested in the art of scoring. He also volunteered his time to the Guyana Cricket Board and sat on many committees during the Chetram Singh administration.
My one regret is that Ron was never commissioned to write the history of cricket in Guyana to included scores in the Case Cup competitions, the Jones Cup tournament and the performances by Guyanese who played at the national level, and playing for the West Indies. With the passing of Ron Legall I have lost a great friend and may he have the recognition he deserves.
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