By Joseph “Reds” Perreira
March 19, 1971 will always be an important day in my life. As it was the very first time I ever did Radio broadcast commentary for a Test match. To prepare for it, however, I had gone to Trinidad & Tobago to watch the West Indies – India 2nd Test which the visitors eventually won by 7 wickets. Doing so had allowed me to familiarize myself with the names of the Indian players, all of whom were touring the West Indies for the very first time.
Batting first, West Indies lost Roy Fredericks off the very first ball of the match, bowled by Abid Ali for a golden duck. They never quite recovered from such a disastrous start and were eventually dismissed for a paltry 214. Charley Davis’ 71 not out was the only innings of note, with Rohan Kanhai’s 37 as the second-highest contribution. Erapali Prassana 3/54 and Bishen Bedi 3/46 were India’s main wicket-takers. Abid Ali figures as the opening bowler and only genuine seamer were 2/54.
In reply India’s openers, Ashok Mankad (44) and Sunil Gavaskar (65) posted 68 for the first wicket before the former became the only batsman to be dismissed by a bowler other than Jack Noriega, The Trinidadian off-spinner playing in his very first Test and in front of his home crowd, ended with the historic figures of 9/99.
As ultra-impressive as they were, Noreiga’s returns proved, however, to be incapable of preventing India from reaching a formidable 352 all out, in response to the West Indies’ posted 214, Dillip Sardesi’s 112 was the highlight of the innings, while Eknath Solkar batting at number 6 in the order chipped in with a stubborn 55.
Faced with a first innings deficit of 138 the West Indies despite Roy Fredericks’ 90 and Charlie Davis’ 74 not, his second unbeaten half-century of the match, could only manage 261 before losing all ten of their wickets. That left India with a victory target of only 125 which they
easily achieved for the loss of just three wickets. Sunil Gavaskar recorded his second half-century of the match, 67 not out as a warning sign of the much bigger scores he would go on to register in the remainder of the Series!
Back at Bourda, for my radio commentary Test debut, the West Indies had made four changes to their team that had lost in Trinidad. Joey Carew, Lance Gibbs were brought in, as were two debutants Jamaica’s Desmond Lewis as the wicket-keeper and the Barbadian Keith Boyce as a seamer. Steve Camacho, Michael Findlay, Arthur Barrett and Vanburn Holder were the omissions from the 2nd Test team.
West Indies batting first, posted 363. Desmond Lewis batting at number 7 and on debut scored an impressive 81 not out. Clive Lloyd chipped in with 60 and there was also a most
entertaining, totally uncharacteristic, innings
of 25 from Lance Gibbs in celebration of his
promotion to #10 in the batting order!
Gavaskar and Mankad (40) who had given
India two very good starts in Trinidad of 68 and
74, posted yet another half-century opening
stand of 72. The young Gavaskar followed up
his Trinidad debut Test half-centuries with an
impressively solid 116. At the crease his pads
looked to be almost larger than he himself, while
his defense proved to be as solid as the Bank of
India!
Gavaskar was well supported by Gundappa
Vishwanath (50) and Abid Ali (50) who both
posted defiant half-centuries, while the ever
reliable Dillip Sardesi was left unbeaten on 46.
Batting a second time, West Indies lost
Fredericks early for 5 with the score on just
11The further losses of Joey Crew for 47. as
well as Clive Lloyd for 9 left them struggling
somewhat at 147/3.
Charlie Davis 125 not out and Skipper Gary
Sobers 108 not out, however, then combined for
an unbeaten 170 run fourth-wicket partnership
that allowed the West Indies to eventually
declare on 307/3. Sobers was ultra-aggressive
during the pre-lunch session of the fifth and final
day, scoring 99 in just 120 minutes of batting.
Set 294 for victory in the time remaining, India
declined the challenge, opting instead for safety
as the Test ended in a tame draw. Gavaskar (64)
and Mankad (53) were both undefeated as India
reached 123 without loss at the close.
My having been selected by the Caribbean
Broadcasting Union (CBU) to be part of their
radio team for the ICC’s first-ever 60 Over
World Cup that was held in England in 1975,
was a great opportunity for the still very
young and inexperienced West Indian cricket
commentator that I was back then! In every
sense I was punching above my weight with
only 5 Test Matches of previous broadcast
experience under my belt at the time.
The far more experienced Tony Cozier, who
by then had already done radio broadcasts
for 20 tests, was the leader of our CBU team.
Dominica’s Jeff Charles, who was attached to
the BBC at the time, was the remaining member
of our Caribbean trio!
The West Indies had some very good group
stage, preliminary round, performances except
for nearly losing to Pakistan. Roberts and
Murray were the heroes with a last wicket stand
of 64, as the West Indies chasing 267 for victory
barely scraped home to win with one wicket to
spare. That result had seemed wholly unlikely
after the West Indies had lost its 8th wicket with the score on 166 and its 9th on 203,
still 64 runs shy of the 267 required for victory.
The West Indies-Australia Preliminary Round match, which was played at Headingly,
was a delight to work on as a Commentator, doing so as I was in the company of the
incomparable John Arlott. Watching my fellow countryman, the diminutive Alvin
(Kally) Kallicharran’s assault on Australia’s legendary pacer, the great Dennis Lillee, was
additional icing on what was already a rather delicious cake!
The Commentary team for the 1975 West Indies –Australia Prudential World Cup Final,
was John Arlott, Brian Johnson, Tony Cozier, and I, with Fred Truman and Trevor Bailey
as the comments men. The broadcast was going to millions all over the cricket World, so
when Trevor Bailey said “over to Reds Perreira,” for just a few seconds the vision in my
mind flashed back to those not too long-gone days when I was just a little boy, growing up my
father’s farm in a small village on the Pomeroon River, a tributary of Guyana’s mighty
Essequibo!
The score was 51 for 3 as I started my commentary. Fredericks, Greenidge and
Kallicharran were all gone back to the pavilion, to leave the West Indies perilously
perched on 50/3.
“Max Walker runs in to bowl to Lloyd and a flashing cover drive for four greets the big
Tasmanian!”
I felt on top of the world watching Lloyd and Rohan Kanhai put together what would
later prove itself to be a match-winning partnership of 149 for the fourth wicket. That
allowed the West Indies to recover to 291/8 which eventually proved to be out of
Australia’s reach. Australia scored 274 all out to fall just 17 runs short of the required
target in what was fittingly a very close and exciting finish!
Having now witnessed the sum total of 152 Tests first hand, it was understandably
difficult for me to decide as to which should be designated as my “fondest memory!” The
December 12-16, 1975 West Indies vs. Australia, 2nd Test would, however, now have to
be my first choice for that honor!
The significance of that Test has to be viewed within the context of what had in fact
taken place before during the tour. Having lost the Brisbane 1st Test, the West Indies
had suffered a further demoralizing loss in the tour match against Western Australia
that preceded the 2nd Test.
Western Australia had scored 291 in its first innings and a massive
520 in its second. The West Indies, having posted 420 in its own first
turn at bat, then suffered a major batting meltdown in its second
innings. Chasing 352 for victory they were dismissed for 271 to lose
by 81 runs!
In front of an almost completely full Perth Oval, Australia won the
toss and decided to bat on the opening day of the 2nd Test. On the
back of skipper Ian Chappell’s 156 they reached 329 all out. For the
West Indies Mikey Holding, playing in only his second Test match,
bowled with real pace to capture 4/88.
In reply, Roy Clinton Fredericks, affectionately known as Freddo to
all, played what would eventually become ranked as one of the top
6 Test knocks ever seen in Australia since 1877 when Test matches
down under were first started. Fredericks’ 50 came in 45 minutes
from 33 balls; He reached 100 in 116 minutes off just 77 balls. When
he was finally dismissed for 169, his 212 minutes of ultra-belligerent
batting had included 27 fours and 1 six!
Fueled by Frederick’s belligerence, West Indies compiled a massive
585 all out off of just 95.4 overs. Such was Frederick’s dominance
over Australia’s high-class four-prong pace attack of Dennis Lillee,
Jeff Thomson, Max Walker and Gary Gilmore, ably supported by
Ashley Mallet’s off-spin, that West Indies captain Clive Lloyd’s 149
and/or Andy Roberts’ 7-54 in Australia’s subsequent second innings
demolition for 169 are now hardly ever remembered!
Australia’s then, now former, captain Ian Chappell is on record as
having described Fredrick’s 169 as a most amazing Test inning, one
of the very best he has ever seen. I couldn’t agree more, hence my
identification of that now-famous Perth Test as my most magnificent
memory of West Indies cricket!