Courtesy of The Island, 11 November 2015, where the title is “Adios Windies, bring back the glory days – Percy”
Clive Lloyd –Getty
Gibbs 
Viv Richards–caribbeanceo.com
“They were virtually unbeatable since the days they won the 1975 World Cup. When we (Sri Lanka) played them those days, we just cared about how long the match was going to last. Defeat was so sure, a foregone conclusion. That was the impression Clive Lloyd and Sir Viv Richards (two Windies skippers) had given the world cricket then.” Percy Abeysekera has a special love for West Indies cricket. He will be cheering the new-look Sri Lankan side under Lasith Malinga today at the second T20 in Colombo. The Windies too is a relatively new side but all know that Abeysekera, who cheered Sri Lanka for nearly 60 years, has seen how the Caribbeans became the undisputed champions of the sport through thick and thin. They dominated world of cricket outright from mid 1970s up to mid 1990s.
“I’ve seen (Sir Garfield) Sobers batting and Lance Gibbs bowling. Those were the days they started ruling the world. I still remember the famous Three W’s (Worrell, Weekes, Walcott) in action in Colombo. Having that memory back in my mind, it is wonderful how our young team is capable of dominating the present West Indies team quite easily in all three formats of the game,” Abeysekera said referring to the decline of Windies cricket over the last two decades.
“They were virtually unbeatable since the days they won the 1975 World Cup. When we (Sri Lanka) played them those days, we just cared about how long the match was going to last. Defeat was so sure, a foregone conclusion. That was the impression Clive Lloyd and Sir Viv Richards (two Windies skippers) had given the world cricket then.”
Percy likes the Caribbean culture which suits his ways ideally. “They are very easy-going people. Much like we, the Lankans. Happy-go-lucky people. They always take it easy whatever happens in the middle. But I feel it’s time the old West Indies dominancy come back and add a different flavour to world cricket today. I love whenever they win if the opponent is not us,” he adds.
In fact when Percy went to the Caribbean last, in 2007, for that year’s ICC World Cup, he was given a special tribute by the ICC by allocating a separate write-up on this rare personality in its Word Cup Final Souvenir. This write-up noted that Percy named his only son after Sir Garfield – Sampath Garfield.
Percy wishes the Caribbeans, who play under Darren Samy their last match today in Colombo, the best of luck for the future. ‘Bring back the glory days’, his only request for the smiling Windies.
(RSS)
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