BIOGRAPHY

NAME

W. D. Percy Gimson Mendis Abeysekera

Born

July 30, 1936 at Boossa

Died

October 30, 2023

Father

Walimuni Simon Mendis Abeysekera

MOTHER

Dolly Margeret de Zoysa Siriwardene

Marriage

Married to Meloney De Silva from Moratuwa in 1968.
She died on Sep. 24, 2010, aged 59

Children

Sampath Garfield (elder son)
Nadeesh Nimmi (daughter)

Grandchildren

Avinka Garfield (named after Sir Garfield Sobers) and Sachinka (named after Sachin Tendulkar) who are son and daughter of Sampath. Avinka played rugby for D. S. Senanayake College, Colombo-7
Amani and Amreetha, are the son and the daughter of Nadeesha

SCHOOL

Richmond College Galle, St. Aloysius’ College Galle,
Siri Rathanasara Vidyalaya Beddegama and Aquinas University College Colombo

Started cheerleading with Lion Flag

1979

Played cricket

St. Aloysius’ College 2nd XI, Aquinas University College in Daily News Trophy and captained the first AMW cricket team to win the Mercantile ‘G’ Division title in 1968, beating Lake House at Rifle Green (Air Force Ground), Colombo.

First job

Associate Motorways (AMW), Nagoda, Kalutara, from 1961 to 1962,
1962 to 1982 ACL Cables Factory (subsidiary of AMW Group)
Under Sir Cyril De Zoysa

Present job

PR Consultant, ACL Cables, Colombo Since 1982 Under Mr.Upali Madanayake, Chairman

Well known understudy

Pakistan cheerleader Sufi Abdul Jaleel who once said;
‘I would like to be like Percy.’

First international match seen

Australia vs. All Ceylon in 1948 at the Colombo Oval (Sara Stadium), when Sir Don Bradman came with the Australian team Started cheerleading in the 1950s

Percy & ACL

Percy was first employed by Sir Cyril de Zoysa, one of the most renowned philanthropists in the post-independence Ceylon and the founder of AMW Company, who was a close relative of Percy’s father.
Later Percy joined ACL Cables, then a subsidiary of AMW, where he still works.
Percy is indebted to ACL, its Chairman Upali Madanayake and his son and present MD Suren Madanayake, who looked after Percy under their wings for over fifty years.
The true cricket lovers need to thank ACL for their sponsoring of Percy for such a long period of time.

Percy's Well-known Uncles

Two of Percy’s uncles, Stanley de Zoysa and M. (Michael) P. de Z. Sriwardene were Ministers of the S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and Sirimavo Bandaranaike governments respectively.

Stanley de Zoysa
Stanley de Zoysa was former Cabinet Minister of Finance (1954–1959) and subsequently Minister of Interior (1959–1960). Born to Sir Francis de Zoysa, KC, a member of the first State Council of Ceylon and one of the pioneers of the Independence Movement of Sri Lanka against British rule. Stanley’s brother was DIG Sydney de Zoysa. Another brother of his, Lucien de Zoysa, played cricket for Ceylon before becoming a pioneering radio cricket commentator.

M. P. de Z. Sriwardene
He was Minister of Labour and Nationalised Services and Minister of Public Works and Post in the first Cabinet of Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike during 1960-65.

Percy’s eccentric personal

The development of Sri Lanka cricket is a fascinating story; a revolution. She reached the pinnacle of world cricket and since her triumph at the Wills World Cup in 1996, Sri Lanka has been able to maintain, most importantly, her newly earned Cricketing Super Power status up to date.

Percy Abeseykera has witnessed it all, this Cinderella Story of Sri Lankan cricket, at very close range for nearly 60 years, carving a niche for himself as an epitome of the bitter hardships, enduring passion and the unparalleled success of Sri Lankan cricket.

Some memorable moments

  • Dancing onboard an aeroplane with Sir Garfield Sobers, the then Lankan coach, on the way back to Colombo after the 1983 World Cup in England.
  • Helped save the life of Sir Garfield when a mob wanted to set fire to his car when Sobers was on his way back to Barbados, during the height of the 1983 July riots,
  • Cheering Warnapura’s Sri Lanka in a Test at Chepauk, defying death threats from the LTTE tigers in Madras in 1982.
  • Cheering Sri Lanka during her inaugural Test at Lord’s, amidst threats from the British police.
  • Martin Crowe presenting him with two of his Man of the Match trophies, saying they were for ‘Percy’s love for cricket’ and his ‘patriotism.’