‘Reds’ part of NCN broadcast team for historic Day/Night match next month

Nov 20, 2016 Sports

By Sean Devers
Joseph ‘Reds’ Perriera is to cricket commentary what Shiv Chanderpaul is to the game itself and both

Joseph Reds Perriera (St lucia Star)

veterans have some important things in common.
They both commenced their Test Careers at Bourda, retired at the International level, both worked very hard at what they do for a very long time, both come from humble background, have both survived adversities such as being removed from the team or from the microphone, both are in twilight of their careers but have been outstanding servants of West Indies cricket and still have great passion for the game they love.
Chanderpaul, at 42, still has the fire to outshine those much younger than him and has the most First-Class matches, runs, centuries and not outs than any other Guyanese.
Reds, at 76, has broadcast the most Test matches, has done it the longest at first Class level and like Shiv, has helped to put Guyana on the map through cricket.
While Chanderpaul is not quite ready to retire from First-Class cricket just yet, Reds will retire from the ‘air’ at First-Class level next month where it all began, in his homeland. This will fulfill one of his wishes.
Reds, a former advisor to ex-sports Minister Shirley Fields-Riddley, who did his first Test in 1971 when West Indies opposed India, will be afforded the opportunity be one of the commentators, when he teams up with Bajan Andrew Mason and Guyana’s last ‘Test’ commentator Inderjeet Permaul to describe the action in the historic first ever Day/Night First-Class match in Guyana from December 9 at Providence.
Guyana, who participated in the inaugural ‘Pink ball’ Day/Night First-Class game against Trinidad and Tobago at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in 2010, take on Barbados, the team to beat Guyana in PCL cricket back in 2014.
Both icons are expected to play their part on the field and from the Media Stand. Won’t it be fitting to name the Reds Perriera Media Centre while he is still alive to know that he was honored by his own people?
And while the powers that be are at it they could honour Guyana’s outstanding cricketers, including Shiv, by putting their names on the various compartments inside the Guyana National Stadium which was built for the 2007 ICC Word Cup Cricket Event.