Sports
Percy set for retirement giving us many points to ponder
by Rex Clementine
Those of us who love the game of cricket make a decent living from the sport and we need to be grateful for that. Players, match officials, ground staff and the media are able to keep the home fire burning thanks to the game we love. But here’s this man Percy Abeysekara, who had dedicated his life for the game of cricket expecting nothing in return. At every game be it in Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Suriyawewa or Dambulla Percy was ever present when a cricket game was on.
Some of these venues like Suriyawewa aren’t spectator friendly for the lack of public transport. You never saw Percy driving a vehicle. But he made sure that he was there at every nook and corner. Often, spectators, players, and officials are quick to give Percy a lift.
One day after a game at Suriyawewa several jeeps were heading towards Hambantota as Percy was walking back to his stay. One jeep stopped and Percy was told to get into the jeep in front. So who was in the jeep, we asked Percy. ‘It was Suriyawewa Ceaser.’ A notorious gangster in the south. Even the most hardcore criminal’s heart melted when he saw Percy.
Once former Board Chairman Gamini Dissanayake, a powerful government minister gave Percy a lift to Colombo after a game at Asgiriya. Mr. Dissanayake asked, ‘Percy you are so knowledgeable about the game. Why don’t you join the cricket board? For this Percy replied, ‘Sir, I’d rather be on the footboard than the cricket board.’
It was a rare occurrence to not see Percy during the recent Galle Test. He had fallen ill and had been advised to rest in bed. Amidst this some social media champions had spread rumours shocking the entire cricketing world.
Percy’s association of cricket dates back to over 50 years before the country gained Test status. While he got on well with most cricketers, Percy did get under the skin of a few of them.
What made Percy a class act from the others is that he knew the history of the game and his command of the English language was superb. He was equally good at his Sinhalese.
Before Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike took over the Christian schools in 1962, Catholic schools were run by foreign missionaries. There were Oblate fathers looking after North and Western Provinces while Jesuit Priests were put in charge of East and South. The Central Province belonged to the Benedictine Monks. Percy had his education at St. Aloysius College, Galle which was run by Italian Jesuits. His eloquence of English was thanks to his education.
Percy’s wit is quick and spontaneous. For the Zimbabwe Test in 2002 at Asgiriya, Russel Arnold had been dropped after a bad patch. He was doing 12th man duty. Percy was after a few drinks and Arnold wound him up saying, ‘Okay Percy, now enough. You are boring.’ Quick came the reply, ‘I’m boring but you are not scoring.’
During the 1984 Lord’s Test when Sri Lanka gave England an unexpected hiding, Percy was doing the rounds with the lion flag. An English lady asked Percy, ‘Is that a lamb in your flag.’ For which Percy replied, ‘Lamb is in your team.’ (Referring to Allan Lamb). ‘Lion is in my flag.’
Kudos to ACL Cables as well for employing Percy beyond 80 years. A company generally gives five to ten years extension even for their most loyal employees, but ACL Cables have supported him well beyond his retirement. There’s leave in abundance for cricket’s most famous face when there are games at both home and overseas. Such employers are rare and need to be appreciated.
Beyond his wit and funny side, Percy also has a human side. He deeply cares for former players who had fallen on hard times not able to make ends meet.
Former captain Roshan Mahanama irrespective of a person’s stature is quick to give the cold shoulder if he didn’t like a person’s values. This week he was making urgent phone calls to find out where Percy lives and to make a visit to his residence. That certainly is a high enough accolade for Percy as Roshan is someone who maintains such high standards.
The impact Percy has had over cricket stars is massive. Sir Richard Hadlee was Chairman of Selectors in 2002 when the Kiwis were playing a warm-up game at NCC. He had just turned up at the venue and having spotted Percy at the boundary rope made a beeline to greet his friend.
Another Kiwi Martin Crowe gave away his Man of the Match award in the 1984 tour. Ravi Shastri autographed one of his t-shirts with these words, ‘Dear Percy, don’t ever lose your voice. Sri Lanka needs it more than you.’
We are not sure whether we will see the same energetic Percy again. When you ask Percy his age, he proudly declares, ‘I am two days younger to Sir Garry Sobers. But certainly, fitter than Sir Garry Sobers.’
Percy named his only son Garfield, after his favourite cricketer. One Garfield wasn’t enough for the family. So, he named his grandson Garfield too. The other grandson was of course Sachin. Percy’s energy will be missed. He kept the crowd going. As he often declares, ‘Percy has no mercy, for cricketers and spectators who are lazy.’
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
US sports envoys to Lanka to champion youth development
Rahuman questions sudden cancellation of leave of CEB employees
