COZIER, PERREIRA HONOURED

THE great Joseph ‘Reds’ Perreira was honoured this past Easter weekend along with the late Tony Cozier, as the Hamilton Lashley Human Development Foundation hosted the inaugural Cozier & Perreira T6 Cup.
The weekend brought out some of the best from the 23 and
Under players and honoured guest Joseph ‘Reds’ Perreira was present during the first edition of the tournament representing both himself and his dear friend, Tony Cozier. As usual, one of the best cricket commentators ever known, Perreira had nothing but words of respect and awe for his colleague of over 40 years.
“Cozier in my opinion, is the most outstanding cricket journalist, as an all-rounder, that the world has ever had. We have produced many a great scholar, we as a Caribbean have produced two nobel laureates, outstanding statesmen, outstanding athletes, great cricketers, but in Winston Anthony Lloyd Cozier, we have produced a commentator, who did television, radio and wrote print for the many newspapers in the world, all in one day. As far as I know, no other journalist
has ever done that and we can be extremely proud of Tony Cozier,” said Perreira.
Perreira also made the argument, during the closing ceremony of the tournament, that Cozier deserved not just words of respect and discussions of his prowess at performing his work, but the Caribbean cricket icon should have been knighted.
“I am not pointing any fingers at any government, but I felt in my heart that when he passed away, he should have died, Sir Tony Cozier. It is not too late for him to receive the highest national awards from the country of his birth,” Perreira contended.
“I was very lucky to work with Tony Cozier for over 40 years and his standard pushed me to work even harder to maintain the level that he had set. It was not just going along for the ride. It really made me a better commentator to work shoulder to shoulder with Tony Cozier,” he said.
Regarding the honour of having a tournament named after himself and Cozier, 82-year old Perreira said that he was pleased with the way he had been treated while in Barbados and happy to see the talent on display. He was given a guard of honour by the two teams in the final, Eastern Stars and Rising Stars, before the game began.
“I have been enriched and touched at the way I have been treated at this special event. It is really, really touching. I would again like to thank the Hamilton Lashley Human Development Foundation foinviting me and looking after me so well, it was an honour,” he said, adding that the tournament, which was held over the Easter Weekend, had the potential to go even further and reach many cricketing nations across the world but would need even more support.
Special Envoy to the Prime Minister’s Office with responsibility for reparations and economic enfranchisement, Trevor Prescod, agreed with Perreira saying that the T6 tournament was the future and appeals to the young people, especially the
emerging talent from within the local communities across Barbados and the entire region.
“This game is futuristic and we have seen some amazing talent here, especially after the last two years where the spirits of the people were a bit down. These young men have given us a new energy, a rebirth of cricket in a post-Covid period.” he said. “The competition clearly showed that we have men of equal character demonstrated today in the cricket, that is the greatest tribute you could give to one such as ‘Reds’ Perreira. The biggest honour you can give to a commentator, where the respect and admiration comes from the community, from the roots of the community itself.”
‘Reds’ Perreira also said that he was grateful to all involved including the Barbados Cricket Association, Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc., the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment, Co-operators General Insurance, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Spar Sports Gear and others.
He also highlighted that without the participating clubs which included the Dominica Cricket Academy, Rising Stars, Eastern Stars, Eastern Bulls, Empire Sports Club, Roachford, Hunters, George Linton Youth, Barracudas and Elite Cricket, the tournament would not have been possible.