Yagga suing JCA

[Peter R]

for taking away the honour of having the pavilion named after him.

Well, didn't expect that but the JCA made a decision and should have stuck by it.

It is a shame that one of our and West Indies best batsmen cannot be given some sort of recognition.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport...s-JCA_10134519

LAWYERS representing former West Indies batting stylist Lawrence Rowe have initiated legal action against the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) for withdrawing the naming of the Players' Pavilion at Sabina Park in his honour

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport...#ixzz1dMf1ekGi

[Peter R]

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2...cleisure3.html

Lawrence Rowe's Critics Must Forgive And Forget
Published: Friday | October 14, 201134 Comments

Lawrence Rowe (left), seen here in a 1974 Gleaner photograph shaking hands with then Prime Minister Michael Manley, was once a favourite of the elite. Now, he is in the shadows of ostracism.
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Jamaicans have done Lawrence Rowe a huge injustice and ought to be ashamed of ourselves for, ad infinitum, belittling and embarrassing an essentially good man.

Rowe's decision to lead a rebel tour to apartheid South Africa to play cricket is something that many Jamaicans haven't forgiven him for, and to this day the man is still being held up to public ridicule on skewed and expedient moral grounds.

I know some of those who treat the name Lawrence Rowe with contempt, then and now, and many of them can't hold a candle to the man in terms of being a decent human being.

Before we behave holier than thou and say we wouldn't have done what he did, we need to remember that first-class cricketers in the West Indies, back then, were very poorly paid, many of them having no job in the off season.

Abraham Maslow told us nearly 70 years ago, in his seminal work, 'A Theory of Human Motivation', that before man can start thinking of abstract concepts like morality, he has, first, to satisfy other more urgent needs like food, clothing and shelter. It is known that many of these struggling players received somewhere close to 60 times the amount they would normally get playing for the West Indies, to go to South Africa! What did we really expect them to do? It would be unrealistic to expect them not to go!

We wanted these players to have the same political and social awareness that some of us conveniently claim to have. We wanted them to stay here and entertain us while earning peanuts, but as C.L.R. James said in Beyond a Boundary, referring to Sir Learie Constantine and others leaving the West Indies to play league cricket in England, if we want cricket to be their life, it must also be their livelihood!

Unfair assumption

Detractors who insist that Rowe & Co 'supported' apartheid by going are being unfair. They held no placards, nor did they voice support for the system. They merely went to play cricket, to be paid handsomely for their God-given talent, and by doing so went against political directorate which felt that a boycott was the best method to bring apartheid down.

It is instructive to remember that a Carl Stone poll done during those very tumultuous years showed that 68 per cent of Jamaicans had no difficulty with the rebel tour. In other words, Rowe and the rest are being ostracised for doing what the common man would have done.

Caribbean double standards

Looking back, one must question our sense of fair play. Lawrence Rowe and others were initially banished from cricket, until we saw the error of our ways and lifted the life ban. Other countries, like England, were far more lenient with their so-called rebels. Think of this rather cruel irony. Graham Gooch took an England team to South Africa in March 1982. By 1986, when the England team was touring the West Indies, Gooch was opening the batting. The first Test was played right here in Jamaica. Lawrence and others had to sit and watch because, at that time, they were not welcome on cricket fields in the region. Those who had banned Rowe & Co from playing, not only for, but in the West Indies, never saw any problem in entertaining foreign rebels who had committed the same crime!

If we were so self-righteous and sensitive about our players who had gone to South Africa and were prepared to ban them for life, none of those who did exactly what they did should have been welcome here!

For the record, John Dyson went to South Africa and played during the apartheid era. He later coached the West Indies, and there was not one word from our holier-than-thou saints.

Yet a players' pavilion at Sabina Park is named in honour of Rowe - a decision which was reversed last week - and some of us suddenly discover how morally upright we are. Critics say Rowe's action should have prevented him from being so honoured. Is coaching the West Indies, as a former rebel, a trifle honour? The answer should be obvious to all but the wilfully perverse. And I can't recall John Dyson apologising for going to South Africa before he was given the honour of directing our cricket either.

It's time to give Lawrence Rowe a break. Allow him, for God's sake, to live the rest of his life in peace.

Orville Higgins is a sportscaster. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.






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Balzioaleek 3 weeks ago
ALL i can say i am glad people like you were not around during the slavery days,because we would still be there, with your thinking!
18 people liked this. Like Reply

Thommo 3 weeks ago in reply to Balzioaleek
Yes brethren, we do not have to go that far back! Mr. Rowe's behavior was an insult to people like Nelson Mandela and Steven Biko who fought Apartheid. Yes, I forgave Mr. Rowe for his foolhardy, capricious, and greedy behavior, BUT, I will not let others (especially the younger generations) forget that illegal and unethical behavior comes with consequences. No, he does not deserve ostracism, but like Judas Iscariot, he should be remembered for the traitor that he was!
Stanley Palmer and 9 more liked this Like Reply

Stanley Palmer 3 weeks ago in reply to Balzioaleek
Glad to see that I'm not the only one who thinks that Higgins is missing the point entirely. Gooch is not Black, or West Indian. Dyson was given a job for his skills, not an honour for his ethics. No one would have cared much if 'Yagga' was given a job instead of such a high honour. In the same vein, many people recognise 'dreadlocks' as demonstrative of a certain worldview and not just a hair style. Even given that his integrity outweighs his intelligence, 'Yagga' himself should have refused the honour as an act of contrition.
5 people liked this. Like Reply

Rev Joan Porteous 3 weeks ago in reply to Balzioaleek
Did you forgive your slave-master? If you did you need to forgive Mr Rowe too.
1 person liked this. Like Reply

Stanley Palmer 3 weeks ago in reply to Rev Joan Porteous
Unlike some of the Black and White inheritors of the slavemasters' morals and material legacy, some of us will not sell our pride for a "mess of pottage."
3 people liked this. Like Reply

prommo 3 weeks ago in reply to Rev Joan Porteous
Remember history taught us that the house slaves were more brutal to their fellow slaves(field slaves) than their masters were so there is nothing new here, we welcomed Gooch while years later we still have our boot on Rowe's neck
Like Reply

Jaguar1891. 3 weeks ago
As a man born in a country situated on the African Continent. I see absolutely nothing wrong in this gentleman and his entourage playing Cricket in South Africa. Had I been born in South Africa I would have been most elated to see other "coloured" people visiting my country the during that dreaded period of apartheid. Enough is enough, honour Mr. Rowe, his visit to South Africa during the apartheid period did more good than harm.
7 people liked this. Like Reply

Ceo 3 weeks ago
I have much respect for him.
Persons who criticize him have their right.
They however support worst things now without knowing it.
They should look to themselves first

No matter how much he gained from his trip, it was still an achievement for blacks.
These whites had to pay a black to see him..
It was a slap in their face. We do not know what he contributed to the fall, but his trip contributed to it
We owe him an undying debt of gratitude.

Gwan Missa Rowe nuff a wi can see through the glass clearly
Big Up sah!!!

.
6 people liked this. Like Reply

Carlton Reynolds 3 weeks ago
My God, I would never have believed I would be able to read a reasoned argument about the Rowe issue in these pages. Letters and comments have been published praising the JCA for "doing the right thing" by embarrassing him and themselves. The reason given for the revocation of the dubious honour was so ridiculous, as Yagga had said "at the time", but for some reason it has proven impossible to point this out here.
Pressure caused good sense and principle to be thrown out the window, and I think Mr Rowe deserves a public apology from the JCA.
4 people liked this. Like Reply

falcondip 3 weeks ago in reply to Carlton Reynolds
WELL WRITTEN,WELL SAID.....
2 people liked this. Like Reply

TH'Kraken 3 weeks ago
Cricket Hall of fame in Hrtford CT. just inducted Rowe into their hallof fame, it was most pleasing to see the atitude of the Jamaicans in the diaspora in comparison to those back home, he should be honored for the joy he brought to cricket lovers, politics and sports are like fire and water, lets just see the man for his batting artistry
4 people liked this. Like Reply

Wistful 3 weeks ago
A very good point about Gooch and others. The attitude towards those rebel players here ruined lives. What ever happened to Herbert Chang?
4 people liked this. Like Reply

Carlton Reynolds 3 weeks ago
Mr Higgins I had misgivings at first about your columns appearing in the OpEd page, but this column has proven that you deserve a space here. Keep writing principled columns and eschew the 'politically correct' ones and you will be a great addition to the sometimes not so illustrious group.
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Stanley Palmer 3 weeks ago
You just dont get it, do you Higgins? Neither did 'Yagga' Rowe.
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Joziffe 3 weeks ago in reply to Stanley Palmer
With all due respect Mr. Palmer I think that you are the one that 'hasn't got it'
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Peter 3 weeks ago
I can by no stretch of the imagination appreciate the position that this writer put forward in his column"Lawrence Rowe's critics must forgive and forget". He mentions that Gooch was not penalised by England for a rebel tour to South Africa, no doubt forgetting that England was a prime supporter of South Africa until world opinion was mobilised against the regime. What is so hard about understanding their "KITH AND KIN" stance?What is so hard about understanding the ambivalence of the average West Indian who saw cricket as the main, if not the only, vehicle through which the average man thought that he could have himself recognised in the world?This ambivalence reached to the Board level when they hired Dyson. South Africa was a rogue state at the time, acknowledged as such by the world community. We should have been the last people giving them relief and succor.I am sure the British would not have been amused had Jamaica sent a football team to Argentina to play a friendly during the Falklands war. As to banning the English cricket team, West Indies had no power to do that at all. If we could not prevent the English from banning the "fireball"(bouncer) , or severely limiting its frequency, how could we confront them full hundred on the South Africa matter?
Sure , no one prevented Yagga et al from going to South Africa, though .Valentine (and others) said they would never go there, and they needed money too.To suggest that Yagga is being persecuted by revoking the naming of a pavillion after him is off the rails completely. After all he also got an opportunity to apologise contritely to the nation, and muffed even that. The impression remains therefore, that there are some cricketers and fans to whom nothing else matters much except "the pretty stroke". It is therefore not hard to imagine that they , with watching friends, can often go into raptures and startle their longsuffering wives during the cricket season with loud yells of " MABLE, whey di bully sandwich an' lemonade dem dey to rahtid ? De bway just lik two sweeeeet six, yu si?" Everything forgiven boss.!!!
3 people liked this. Like Reply

prommo 3 weeks ago
TRUE TRUE TRUE EVERY LAST WORD
3 people liked this. Like Reply

davesewell 3 weeks ago
"Cowards" should be the name for the people who sits on the correct, proper and intellegent information to diffuse this nasty behaviour towards a human being . This will have to play a part in the history of jamaica and the responsible thing to do here is to document it and have the youngsters learn about it and others among us get a chance to deal with the issue, with some amount of compassion. There are many people among the living in this country who have had criminal records and are not treated with this level of contempt.
Its shameful and to continue to harbor ,foster and solicit this level of comtempt and disrespect for humans among us .
3 people liked this. Like Reply

Rev Joan Porteous 3 weeks ago
This is not only Caribbean double standards it is raw "crab in barrel" mentality (Red Eye bug). No man is perfect he must also reflect on his own action and ask for forgiveness. The decision should now be reversed and the pavilion should be named in his honor.

Should the people in South Africa continue to hate their white neighbor?What Mr. Rowe did then is wrong but forgiveness is the key if we are a christian society
3 people liked this. Like Reply

BOOK OF RULES 3 weeks ago
The writer failed to mention the Gleneagles Accord and I am wondering , why ? If he knows about said accord but choose to ignore same just to advance his argument then that's shallow . If he never herad of the Gleneagles Accord then its time for some homework . We need to , as a people , dismiss the idea that rules were made to be broken wen wi can mek a money . The former cricketer chose to put self and money above principle and that was his call , but bad behaviour should not be rewarded .
3 people liked this. Like Reply

Comredldr 3 weeks ago
When he repents and we will foregive
3 people liked this. Like Reply

Laur 3 weeks ago
There is absolutely nothing wrong with him living in peace, but facilities being named after him no, that's the consequence of his earlier actions.
2 people liked this. Like Reply

Jocovia 3 weeks ago
"It's time to give Lawrence Rowe a break. Allow him, for God's sake, to live the rest of his life in peace". I would said the same for Mr. Bruce Golding.
2 people liked this. Like Reply

Rev Joan Porteous 3 weeks ago
Apartheid is system of legal racial segregation/ brutal, murder mayhem, violence,pain, dislocation and separation of families.
Garrison politic is a system of political segregation/brutal,murder mayhem, violence,pain, dislocation and separation of families.In Jamaica most Jamaicans regardless of status worship at the shrine of garrison politicians.To name a few garrison politicians Prime Minister Bruce Golding and opposition leader Mrs Portia Simpson-Miller. These to are forgiven daily and respected sometimes worshiped.What double standards we hold here in Jamaica!
2 people liked this. Like Reply

Fadagong 3 weeks ago
Higgins dead wrong! Goooch white, Dyson white, Rowe black, ever hear about solidarity? Rowe even at this late stage refuse to accept he did wrong, that is the arrogance of the man. He should not have a pavillion name after him at Sabina Park. Simple
1 person liked this. Like Reply

Jaman 3 weeks ago
Orville you chatting garbage. ppl just seh remove the name from Sabina anf forget Yagga. Weh holla ballo bout. It is only a breadfruit who would go to south africa under apartheid
1 person liked this. Like Reply

Jayjayja 3 weeks ago
Jamaicans were recruited and fought for their slave master (the English) in WW 1 & WW11. How did that happen, did we forgive our white slave masters who killed millions of blacks during slavery.

Today we line up in the sun to get a visa so we can go visit our former slave masters and no one sees anything wrong with that.
Blacks are willing to forgive any other race expect the black race, then we wonder why we are unable to be better than we are today.
Like Reply

Carlton Reynolds 3 weeks ago in reply to Jayjayja
millions killed during slavery, eh? Well I was dere and dats not true man, u ben reedin de rong buuks!! Moong!!
Like Reply

cg 3 weeks ago
well said mr higgins, you have shed some light on ares i didnt see
Like Reply

Gwill 3 weeks ago
Orville Higgins, you are dead wrong.
Rowe should have apoligized many years ago and he would hve been forgiven. rowe chose not to do so. So why should we forget now and give him a break.
Orville Higgins, you are supposed to be a smart man, so act like it
Like Reply

Antoye 3 weeks ago
There is an old saying of which I think this writer needs reminding, it goes: "two wrongs does not make a right." No matter how great a batsman Rowe was and I have no doubt an otherwise 'decent' human-being, he chose, by his very own actions, not to have his name elevated as initially misconceived by the Jamaica Cricket Board.
Like Reply

guest 3 weeks ago
I concur. Does Gayle any get any beef about his comment such as pferring to play 20/20 over tests cricket when he was WI captain ? yet he wants to play test cricket. The two issues might not be the same but its what was said and by whom.
Like Reply

Antoye 3 weeks ago in reply to guest
Who believes tat Gayle wants to play test cricket? LOL!
Like Reply

Ebryanbonny 3 weeks ago
Well said
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[Me]

They were late with removing it, but it was the best thing them do. Especially after the man flip the script on them after the ceremony.

[Gamma]

agree wid yuh sah! it may have not been the smatest move to begin with (in hindsight) but it would have been less smart to allow the name to remain after further adding insult to an injury that was beginning to heal

[Bricktop]

What kind of recognition would you like bestowed on this reprobate?

[Mosiah]

what Lazie do now?

[Bricktop]

Yuh cyaan diss me bredrin dem way enuh...

[Gamma]

staredown!

[Islandman]

From what I hear he really screwed himself in the radio interview. He basically said he didn't do anything wrong.

I happen to agree with him that in hindsight the tours may have done more good than harm but that does not excuse the fact that he had clearly accepted the award with some understanding that he would apologize for his actions at the time.

Taking legal action is also very silly and will only benefit the lawyers.

[Islandman]

Him could bat fe true though. Effortless!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urkEnM89QOY

[Mosiah]

where is the sand?

[Gamma]

the whistling ... these days bowlers and wicketkeepers would complain to through him off .... kellie magnus wrote a children's book entitled "little lion goes to bat" and in one picture when little lion is going to the crease he is clearly whistling ... i wondered if that was coincidence or a tribute to the batting genius of yagga rowe?

i mean to ask her .....

[Exile]

You had me watching all the YOutube clips of old...Kallicharan, Khanai, Holdng,...etc...
Thanks.

[Peter R]

Rowe too?

[Exile]

Of course.