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Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, in Jamaica for the ninth Group of Fifteen Summit, urged West Indians not to worry about the current dismal form of their cricket team, saying ``everybody has ups and downs.''

Minister Kadirgamar said cricket was a marvellous game which has brought together the beautiful islands of the West Indies and equally exotic Sri Lanka.

``We have many things in common. We are all islands. The climate is similar. Our people are friendly and very keen on cricket,'' the Minister told a packed news conference at the Half Moon Hotel soon after the 18th G-15 Foreign Ministers Meeting.

The Minister wished the West Indies a speedy return to their former glory, recalling the days the three Ws (Weekes, Worrell and Walcott) ripped through opposition batting lines. ``They came to Sri Lanka in the fifties and their performance was simply sensational. We were very impressed.

That generation, including myself, will always associate the West Indies with such glorious cricket.''

Meanwhile, the West Indies debacle in South Africa continues to dominate the local sports pages and conversations among sports lovers. Many Jamaicans and other West Indians who met us were optimistic that the Windies would gain a formidable force in world cricket.