EDITORIAL - We welcome Rowe's apology, not the honour

We wonder what Lawrence 'Yagga' Rowe thinks of and would say in a face-to-face meeting with Nelson Mandela, the former South African president, or any of the heroes of the anti-apartheid struggle.

We are curious, too, about the process of decision-making among the recently elected leadership of Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) and what, if any, its president, Mr Lyndel Wright, believes should be the role of the public in determining who bears the banner of hero on their behalf.

These concerns arise against the backdrop of yesterday's formal naming of the players' enclosure at the Northern Stand at the Sabina Park cricket ground in Kingston in favour of Rowe, the former Jamaica and West Indies batsman.

For cricket lovers of a generation ago will remember Rowe as a player of sublime talent, full of contradiction, foible and irrationality.

In 30 Test matches between 1972 and 1981, he scored 2,047 runs at an average of 43.5. In his overall first-class career, he scored 8,755 runs, for an average of 37.57. These are decent averages, of the kind of a player considered good, but who remains outside the pantheon of the greats.

a good spell

But for a short period of Rowe's career, he flirted with the gods. He batted with the balletic artistry of Nijinsky, such as in the single and double centuries in his first Test against New Zealand at Sabina, and his 302 against England in 1974.

But illnesses, exacerbated by superstitious foibles that were part of Rowe's flawed character, curtailed his climb to greatness and brings us back to the question about the conversation he might have with Mandela, and Mr Wright's judgement.

At the end of 1982 when Mr Mandela, Walter Sisulu and other leaders of South Africa's anti-apartheid movement were still in jail on Robben Island, and most of the world maintained a sporting ban on South Africa, Lawrence Rowe snuck out of Jamaica to lead a tour of 'rebel' West Indian cricketers to play in the white minority-ruled country.

Mr Mandela even left prison and led South Africa, presiding over one of history's remarkable acts of reconciliation. But that just didn't happen. It included a process of participants of both sides engaging in a process of truth-telling and admission of wrongs.

sincerity questionable?

For 28 years, Lawrence Rowe, for the most part, kept his counsel, and his public comments were, by and large, limited to statements that he did nothing wrong and that the rebel tour actually helped to dismantle apartheid.

Rowe finally apologised yesterday, in a statement embargoed until noon, shortly before the naming ceremony at Sabina Park. It is said that the fact and substance of the apology were negotiated overnight when the moral ramifications of the JCA's action were brought to its attention.

We, as we believe Mr Mandela would, accept Rowe's apology, if it is sincere. We nonetheless question whether there are not other Jamaican cricketers more worthy of honour.

Here are handful who might lay claim to having his name above the dressing room: Allan Rae, Franz Alexander, Alf Valentine, Jackie Hendriks, Collie Smith, Esmond Kentish or Maurice Foster.

We are sure that Lyndel Wright can think of others.

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