Lawrence Rowe

Photos: Lawrence Rowe

Galaxy of West Indian greats at Lawrence Rowe Legendary Foundation banquet

Lawrence Rowe Biography

Lawrence Rowe became an instant sensation when he scored 214 and 100* on Test debut. He remains the only batsman to score a double-century and a century in his first Test, at Sabina Park.

But there was more to Rowe than that. He was an extremely attractive batsman even by West Indian standards. He drove like a king, even off back-foot. He hooked and cut with ferocious power. And his late-cuts, even against pace, were so late that he even found time to place them through the spin cordon. And he stepped out to loft spinners with such exuberance and success that they lost rhythm completely. And he did all this while whistling a tune after every stroke.

Michael Holding called Rowe the greatest batsman he had seen. Desmond Haynes hailed him as his childhood hero. The Lawrence of Jamaica, they used to call him.

Two years after his remarkable debut he scored 120 at the same ground. In the next Test he hammered the England bowlers for a triple-hundred. This included a head-level hook off Bob Willis into the stands.

At the end of the series Rowe averaged 70.68 from 12 Tests. He earned a call from Derbyshire, which was where everything started to go wrong. He contracted hay fever. He had periodic headaches. But worst of all was the discovery that he was allergic to grass.

On the India tour of 1974-75 Rowe found trouble connecting even in the nets. He went to an optician.

The bowlers always thought he saw the ball early. The optician agreed to it, for Rowe had a vision superior to 20-20: he could even read the manufacturer’s name below the letters!

Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with pterygium, a growth in his eyes that blurred his eyesight. In fact, his right eye was almost completely covered. Even surgery did not help, for the primitive contact lenses made his eyes watery.

Even then he scored a delightful hundred at Brisbane. And in World Series Cricket he gave glimpses of his glorious past with 175 against the Australians, managing to get even Richie Benaud excited behind the microphone.

Unfortunately, it was a one-off. While his first 13 Tests had got him 1,266 runs at 70.33, the last 17 got him only 781 at 26.93.

Rowe later led a rebel West Indian team to South Africa in 1982-83. The decision led to him being shunned by the Jamaicans, and forced him to take up residence in Miami.

However, in 2004, Rowe was named among one of Jamaica’s five greatest cricketers of all time.

Seven years later he was honoured at Sabina Park during a Test against India. They even made a stand after him at Sabina Park. Rowe, too, issued a public apology for being a part of the rebel tour.

Three months later he told in a radio interview that he did not feel guilty about the rebel tours. Jamaica Cricket Association withdrew the honours.

Abhishek Mukherjee

Lawrence Rowe Batting & Fielding Averages

Career	M	In	R	NO	HS	Avg	BF	SR	100s	50s	4s	6s	Ct	St
Test	30	49	2047	2	302	43.55	2850	71.82	7	7	201	--	17	0
ODIs	11	8	136	0	60	17.00	244	55.73	0	1	10	0	2	0
T20s	0	--	--	--		--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
World Cup	0	--	--	--		--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--

Lawrence Rowe Bowling Averages

Career	M	B	R	W	Avg	EC	SR	5WI	10WM	BBI	BBM
Test	30	84	44	0	--	3.142	--	0	0	0/1	0/1
ODIs	11	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
T20s	0	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
World Cup	0	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--		--

Lawrence Rowe Career statistics

News ON Lawrence Rowe

Rowe sues Jamaica board, wants his name reinstated at Sabina Park

West Indies batting legend Lawrence Rowe has launched legal action against the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) for its decision ...

Jamaica officials revoke naming of Lawrence Rowe enclosure

Jamaican cricket officials have revoked the naming of the players' enclosure at Sabina Park after former Jamaica captain and West ...

Windies legend Rowe honoured by JCA

By Ashish Shukla

Former West Indies batsman Lawrence Rowe was on Monday honoured by the Jamaican ...

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Features ON Lawrence Rowe

Dream Team: An all-time great XI of January born players

H Natarajan picks a fantasy World XI of January-born players who have left their mark in Test cricket.

Lawrence Rowe: ‘Lawrence of Jamaica’, now just a pariah in his own country

When it came to class and style, few could match Lawrence Rowe. Physical ailments prevented him from having the career he deserved. ...

Lawrence Rowe’s 302: A mix of grace, power and efficiency

In 2004, Lawrence Rowe’s 302 was voted the best innings by a Jamaican, ahead of George Headley’s 223 and 107.

Lawrence Rowe becomes first batsman to score double-hundred and hundred in his debut Test

Lawrence Rowe later went on score a triple-hundred as well.

Six cricketers who were victims of eye problems

Colin Milburn, MAK Pataudi, Lawrence Rowe and others in the list.

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