COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, CMC-West Indies cricket captain Jason Holder has welcomed the decision to honour cricket icon Sir Garfield Sobers during the upcoming Test Series between West Indies and Sri Lanka.
The two-match series will be played for the Sobers/Tissera trophy as tribute to the former West Indies all-rounder and captain and Michael Tissera, the former Sri Lanka captain
The announcement was made by Sri Lanka Cricket at the official pre-series launch yesterday.
“Having the trophy named after Sir Garfield Sobers is something truly special. He was one of the greatest to play the game and he still makes a major contribution to the game,” said Holder.
“Only recently he joined us in Barbados and wished everyone the very best for this tour of Sri Lanka. It is always good to see him and interact with him and it would be great for us to take home the trophy with his name on it”.
Sir Garry, 79, is considered the greatest all-rounder of all time having played 93 Test matches for West Indies between 1954 and 1974 and scoring 8,032 runs with 26 centuries while taking 235 wickets.
Tissera, 75, is a respected former Sri Lanka captain and team manager who represented the country in the pre-Test era and played in the first Cricket World Cup in 1975.
“We have players in the team who are eager to do very well for West Indies cricket,” said Holder during the official pre-series launch last night.
“We all look up to Sir Garry and the legends of West Indies cricket who paved the way for us to be here. We will look to play in the true spirit of the game and look to emulate the great things of our past heroes.”
The two teams will play Test matches at the Galle International Stadium (October 14-18) in the coastal town of Galle; and the P Sara Oval (October 22-26) in the capital, Colombo.