20 batsmen whose Test average never dipped below 40: Part 1

(18) Lawrence Rowe (West Indies): 1972-1980

Lawrence Rowe scored 314 runs in his debut test; no one has scored more.

Matches: 30, Runs: 2047, Average: 43.55, Highest: 302, 100/50: 7/7.

Lowest Career Average: 43 (29th Test)

In the 141 year history of test cricket, no batsmen have had a better test debut than Lawrence Rowe. Rowe scored 214 and 100* in his debut test against New Zealand at Sabina Park, Jamaica in 1972.

Soon after, Rowe had a triple century to his name: a magnificent 302 against England at the Kensington Oval in 1974. Rowe averaged 71 after his first 13 tests and had already scored 6 hundreds by then. Sir Garfield Sobers believed that Rowe had the potential to be West Indies' greatest ever batsman, but it all fizzled out eventually.

Lawrence Rowe had the world at his feet, but ill-timed injuries and a poor work ethic meant that Rowe never lived up to his great potential. There were flashes of brilliance, Rowe's 107 against Lillee and Thomson at the Gabba is the stuff of legends, but such knocks were few and far between.

The final straw came after Rowe led the rebel tour to South Africa; it finished his international career with immediate effect and made him a pariah in his hometown of Jamaica: a place where he had scored 567 runs at an average of 113.

Lawrence Rowe managed only 30 tests in his 8-year career. He scored 2047 runs in them, the 2000 run milestone was achieved in the final test only. He scored 7 hundred in his career, but only 1 in his final 17 tests. A fantastic start to his test career meant that Rowe's average never dipped below 40, but it was a rather close shave.

Rowe's lowest career average of 43 came in his second test last, but he scored a hundred and a fifty in his next two innings to keep himself afloat. Lawrence Rowe finished with a test average of 43.55, it was good but just not good enough.