Former West Indies batsman Lawrence Rowe, who led his team on two tours of apartheid-era South Africa, was recognised as one of Jamaica's top five cricketers. Rowe was selected on Tuesday in the final of five ceremonies marking the West Indies' 75th year in Test cricket. His name joined Jamaican fastbowlers Michael Holding and Courtney Walsh, wicketkeeper Jeffrey Dujon and batsman George Headley, who were selected from a pool of 15 players over the last year. The five Jamaicans, along with 21 other Caribbean players, are vying for addition to the Wisden Cricket Almanac as the top five players from the Caribbean. The names are to be announced in July at a ceremony in Birmingham, England. The 55-year-old Rowe, who lives in Miami, played 30 Tests from 1971 to 1980, finishing with an average of 43.55. He scored seven centuries including an epic 302 against England at the Kensington Oval in Barbados in 1974. Headley, who died in 1983, was the top West Indies batsman throughout the 1930s and '40s. He played 22 Tests and scored 10 centuries with a top score of 270 against England at Sabina Park in 1934. His average of 60.83 remains the best in Tests by a West Indies batsman. Holding, Dujon and Walsh played for the powerful West Indies team of the 1980s. Holding's match-winning 14 wickets for 149 against England at The Oval in 1976 and Rowe's 302 were cited Tuesday as the best performances by Jamaicans in Test cricket. (AP)
Rowe joins list of top Jamaican cricketers
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