Cheer Man Percy evokes sense of patriotism
Cricket supersedes beyond the boundaries of the playing fields and the big stage performers in a family wholesome encompassing the populace at large, of whom the cheer leaders have succeeded in infusing an aroma of color and splendor to the over century long game.
While today we see more cheer girls than cheer men who are largely outnumbered by the fairer sex who have enveloped world cricket in intensifying the sizzler action in the middle by their charm acts as stage performers, it is pertinent to dwell on the origin of cricket’s cheer leaders. That it dates back to a Sri Lankan in our very own Percy Abeysekera in the 1970s era when Sri Lanka was striving to win international recognition is significantly poignant. For, that was a period of Sri Lankan cricket that had just forge out of its infancy as the island nation went on to make its first impact internationally by winning the ICC Trophy in 1979 beating Canada, and Percy was there large as ever. That was when as Percy now batting on age 80 recalls ‘I was cheering my country without a flag.’ If Sri Lanka’s ICC Trophy hurrah was a huge patriotism moment for Percy, the cheer man then, over three and a half decades since we see a man weather-beaten in a pastime of having walked the walk with the country’s cricket through thick and thin.
During Sri Lanka’s epoch making world cup triumph of 1996, Percy was there to share in that piece historic landmark of our cricket. Down the years, he has been a type of buttressing physical element outside the boundary line in spurring our cricketers on. So much so an anointment to the country’s cricketing cause, the lion flag a stirring symbol as he trudges up and down holding it aloft during significant moments of the cricket – during victory and personal milestones to players. There he was grizzly by age and time when some of the legends called it a day to their careers.
Perhaps, the most recent poignant moment being when Percy Abeysekera walked the retiring Tillekeratne Dilshan to the cricket field and out of it, the Lion flag held over him. This Percy performance in imbibing a sense of national feeling to the cricketers at all times has indeed been a transcending element to illuminating the game at large to posterity. Percy, who by all accounts, effectively, happens to be the first of his tribe to have emerged as a cheer leader in world cricket, has characteristically breathed the essence of every trait that takes it to be a cheer leader – charisma, wit, an endearing ability to win the applause of the spectator by his antics and above all an intellect to converse bordering on the poetic. As Percy recounted the other day, many are the ‘down memory lane’ anecdotes that Percy has been drawn to with numerous cricketers from Mohammed Azharuddin to Martin Crowe and Richard Hadlee. Also, there were many instances that as he put it ‘I made players get out by the jibes I made’
“They thought that I was a charmer,” reminisced the veteran cheer man who reminisced that the former Indian captain Azharuddin had once berated him saying ‘you are a chamer’ to which Percy had retorted that ‘I am a snake charmer.’ There were some who were awed by Percy’s panache such as former New Zealand skipper, Martin Crowe. Martin Crowe was so impressed by my rhetoric that he handed ‘me his ‘Man of the Match’ awards on two occasions.’ As Percy recalled, “One was in 1984 when New Zealand played in Sri Lanka in a triangular along with Pakistan in 1984. New Zealand won the trophy, and Crowe was the Man of the Final. Crowe asked me after the match to meet him at the then Hotel Oberoi where the team was staying. When I called over, he handed me the trophy and said ‘keep it as a memento for all the good work you have done for cricket as a cheer man.’
One of Percy’s most favourite vibes centered on Sir Garfield Sobers’ name. “Many used to ask me, ‘How old are you?’ and, I used to reply, ‘2 years younger to Sobers’. They used to retort, ‘You must be stronger than Sobers.’
The 1980’s Sri Lanka triumph over India when then Skipper Duleep Mendis and Vice Captain Roy Dias struck centuries against Kapil Dev’s team at Asgiriya holds special to Percy. “It was a historic moment beating India after obtaining ICC Test status, and the India Guardian Newspaper made mention of me for my role as cheer man, said Percy.
Percy did make a point of the fact that ’30 years of my 60-year long career cheering was without the Lion flag, and 30 years with the Lion flag.’ Progressively, I received the blessings of the Sri Lankan cricket authorities which made my job easier. I’ve travelled many countries, and it’s been momentous to have cheered for my country and to continue to do so.’
Indeed, Percy Abeysekera has endowed himself as a much sought after pioneer in the field of cheering.
By Srian Obeyesekere
-The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Sri Lanka Cricket-
