Lou Rowan
Encyclopedia
Louis Patrick “Lou” Rowan (born 2 May 1925 in Murwillumbah, New South Wales
), was an Australian Test cricket match umpire.
He umpired 25 Test matches
between 1963 and 1971. His first match was between Australian and England at Sydney
on 11 January to 15 January 1963, when Alan Davidson
took 9/79, and Bobby Simpson
took 5/57 and made 91 and 36 not out to beat England. Rowan’s partner was Bill Smyth
. Rowan became senior umpire after the retirement of the respected Col Egar. He was a policeman by profession, a Detective Sergeant with the Queensland drug squad
, took no nonsense, and was inclined to stand on his authority.
, Geoff Boycott and John Snow
. After the series Boycott and Snow were called to a disciplinary hearing at Lords over their behaviour, and Illingworth and Snow never toured again.
In six full Tests no Australian batsman was given out lbw
in the series, which was the clearest evidence of umpiring bias in the minds of the England players. It must be remembered that at the time umpires had no recourse to slow motion replays and had to make decisions based on what they saw in a split second, with the benefit of the doubt always going to the batsman.
In the First Test Keith Stackpole
should have been run out for 18 as Geoff Boycott threw down the wicket at the bowler's end, but Rowan gave the batsman was given the benefit of the doubt. The Australian papers carried photographs the next day showing that he was clearly out and labelled it "one of the worst in cricket history". It probably cost England victory as Stackpole made 207 - his highest Test score - and if the "extra" 189 runs are subtracted from the Australian total England would have won by an innings (464 to Australia's 244 & 214). Rowan's refusal to accept that his decision was wrong gave the England players grave doubts as to his ability and led them to question his judgements for the remainder of the series.
In the Second Test Ray Illingworth
won the toss, but Rowan refused his request for the roller to be used on the wicket before play began. Rowan later realised his mistake and apologised in the lunch break. In the Australian first innings Keith Stackpole
survived lbw
appeals from Ken Shuttleworth
and Peter Lever
before he was out caught by Lever off Snow for 8. The England fast bowler John Snow
wrote 'I have never come across another umpire so full of his own importance, so stubborn, lacking in humour, unreasonable and utterly unable to distinguish between a delivery short of a length which rise around the height of the rib cage and a genuine bouncer which goes through head high' and believed that chest high balls were not intimidatory. However, the great England umpire Dickie Bird wrote "as far as I am concerned, intimidatory bowling is the fast, short pitched ball into the region of the batsman's ribcage. When such a ball is fired in it is then that I feel an umpire must be firm...and tell the bowler to cut it out...that's the killer ball, and that is when I always step in". As Snow hit tailenders Garth McKenzie and Terry Jenner
on the head in the series and continually bowled short at the other Australian batsmen it was not unreasonable for Rowan to intervene. Snow thought this was partisanship as Alan Thomson
was not called to book when he bowled bouncers at Snow and six in one eight-ball over against Ray Illingworth
. Snow was twice warned by Rowan for intimidatory bowling in the Second Test at Perth, but refused to accept that rib high balls were intimidatory and continued to bowl them. As a result Snow was given an official warning, which meant that he would not be allowed to bowl if he was warned again. Illingworth told him that this was to be his last over in any case and the fast bowler sent his last ball flying over the head of Doug Walters
, turned to Rowan and said "Now that's a bouncer for you".
Even John Snow
applauded when Rowan and Tom Brooks
refused to start play at Melbourne in the abandoned Third Test. Ian Johnson
and the Melbourne authorities were desperate to get the game going, but the umpires refused to be pressured as the field was quite unfit for play. A 40-over match was played, won by Australia by 5 wickets. Rowan (and Brooks) thus became the first umpires to stand in an One Day International match.
In the Sixth Test Boycott was run out for 58, but vocally disputed his dismissal and later pointedly refused to apologise for his behaviour, which lead to another press furore. However, on this occasion there was no clear evidence that Rowan's decision was incorrect.
The Seventh Test at Sydney on 12 February to 17 February 1971 was Rowan's last, with Tom Brooks
as his umpiring colleague. It was a dramatic game won by England by 62 runs to regain The Ashes
. Doug Walters
had to be stumped twice by Alan Knott
off Derek Underwood
as he was given not out by Rowan the first time when on 41, but was a few balls later by Max O'Connell
for 42. Keith Stackpole
was caught off a thick edge by Knott off Peter Lever
on 13, but was given not out by Rowan, the England captain Ray Illingworth
said "It was really unbelievable". Later in the innings Illingworth led the English players from the field following a crowd disturbance after fast bowler John Snow
had hit Australian lower-order batsman Terry Jenner
on the head with a bouncer
. Rowan had issued Snow with a warning for intimidatory bowling and Snow’s and Illingworth’s displeasure was clear to the crowd who booed passionately. When Snow finished his over and moved to his fielding position on the boundary, he was grabbed by a spectator, and had beer-cans thrown at him. Following the English walk-off, Rowan advised them to either resume or forfeit the match, and the players returned after the ground was cleared. In this he was support by the England manager David Clark
and Alan Barnes of the A.B.C.
In 1972 Rowan wrote The Umpire's Story which was highly critical of the England team, particularly of Illingworth and Snow. It even queried "was John Snow actually grabbed by a spectator who objected to Snow flattening an Australian batsman?" regardless of photographic evidence to the contrary. John Snow in his autobiography Cricket Rebel devoted a whole chapter to "Bitter Rows with Umpire Rowan".
was cancelled following political and moral protests against the apartheid
policies of the South African government. In its place a ‘World Team’ visited Australia and played a series of Test standard, although never officially recognised. Rowan stood in three of these matches, including the match at Perth
where Dennis Lillee
took 8/29 in an innings.
Murwillumbah, New South Wales
Murwillumbah is a town of approximately 7,500 people in far north-eastern New South Wales, Australia in the Tweed Shire. It lies on the Tweed River, 848 km north-east of Sydney, 13 km south of the Queensland border and 132 km south of Brisbane. At the 2006 census, Murwillumbah had a...
), was an Australian Test cricket match umpire.
He umpired 25 Test matches
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
between 1963 and 1971. His first match was between Australian and England at Sydney
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
on 11 January to 15 January 1963, when Alan Davidson
Alan Davidson (cricketer)
Alan Keith Davidson, AM, MBE is a former Australian cricketer of the 1950s and 1960s. He was an all rounder: a hard-hitting lower-order left-handed batsman, and an outstanding left-arm fast-medium opening bowler...
took 9/79, and Bobby Simpson
Bob Simpson (cricketer)
Robert Baddeley Simpson AO is a former cricketer who played for New South Wales, Western Australia and Australia, captaining the national team from 1963–64 until 1967–68, and again in 1977–78. He later had a highly successful term as the coach of the Australian team...
took 5/57 and made 91 and 36 not out to beat England. Rowan’s partner was Bill Smyth
Bill Smyth
William Joseph Smyth AO was an Australian cricket Test match umpire.Smyth born at Maryborough, Victoria, took up umpiring in 1947 when injury ended his fast bowling career, and umpired four Test matches between 1962 and 1966...
. Rowan became senior umpire after the retirement of the respected Col Egar. He was a policeman by profession, a Detective Sergeant with the Queensland drug squad
Queensland Police
The Queensland Police Service is the law enforcement agency responsible for policing the Australian state of Queensland. In 1990, the Queensland Police Force was officially renamed the Queensland Police Service and the old motto of "Firmness with Courtesy" was changed to "With Honour We Serve"...
, took no nonsense, and was inclined to stand on his authority.
1970/71 season
Rowan umpired all the Test matches in the acrimonious 1970-71 Ashes series, but was heavily criticised by Ray IllingworthRay Illingworth
Raymond Illingworth, CBE is a former English cricketer, cricket commentator and cricket administrator. He was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20,000 runs in First class cricket, and the last one to do so...
, Geoff Boycott and John Snow
John Snow (cricketer)
John Augustine Snow played cricket for Sussex and England in the 1960s and 1970s. Despite being the son of a country vicar and publishing two volumes of poetry Snow was England's most formidable fast bowler between Fred Trueman and Bob Willis and played Test Matches with both of them at either end...
. After the series Boycott and Snow were called to a disciplinary hearing at Lords over their behaviour, and Illingworth and Snow never toured again.
In six full Tests no Australian batsman was given out lbw
Leg before wicket
In the sport of cricket, leg before wicket is one of the ways in which a batsman can be dismissed. An umpire will rule a batsman out LBW under a series of circumstances which primarily include the ball striking the batsman's body when it would otherwise have continued on to hit the batsman's...
in the series, which was the clearest evidence of umpiring bias in the minds of the England players. It must be remembered that at the time umpires had no recourse to slow motion replays and had to make decisions based on what they saw in a split second, with the benefit of the doubt always going to the batsman.
In the First Test Keith Stackpole
Keith Stackpole
Keith Raymond Stackpole Junior is a former Victorian and Australian cricketer who played in 43 Tests and 6 ODIs from 1966 to 1974, who is now a radio cricket commentator...
should have been run out for 18 as Geoff Boycott threw down the wicket at the bowler's end, but Rowan gave the batsman was given the benefit of the doubt. The Australian papers carried photographs the next day showing that he was clearly out and labelled it "one of the worst in cricket history". It probably cost England victory as Stackpole made 207 - his highest Test score - and if the "extra" 189 runs are subtracted from the Australian total England would have won by an innings (464 to Australia's 244 & 214). Rowan's refusal to accept that his decision was wrong gave the England players grave doubts as to his ability and led them to question his judgements for the remainder of the series.
In the Second Test Ray Illingworth
Ray Illingworth
Raymond Illingworth, CBE is a former English cricketer, cricket commentator and cricket administrator. He was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20,000 runs in First class cricket, and the last one to do so...
won the toss, but Rowan refused his request for the roller to be used on the wicket before play began. Rowan later realised his mistake and apologised in the lunch break. In the Australian first innings Keith Stackpole
Keith Stackpole
Keith Raymond Stackpole Junior is a former Victorian and Australian cricketer who played in 43 Tests and 6 ODIs from 1966 to 1974, who is now a radio cricket commentator...
survived lbw
Leg before wicket
In the sport of cricket, leg before wicket is one of the ways in which a batsman can be dismissed. An umpire will rule a batsman out LBW under a series of circumstances which primarily include the ball striking the batsman's body when it would otherwise have continued on to hit the batsman's...
appeals from Ken Shuttleworth
Ken Shuttleworth (cricketer)
Kenneth Shuttleworth is an English former cricketer. He played five Test matches and one One Day International for England in the early 1970s.-Life and career:...
and Peter Lever
Peter Lever
Peter Lever is a former English cricketer, who played in seventeen Tests and ten ODIs for England from 1970 to 1975. He was a successful wicket taker, taking 41 victims from those seventeen Tests, and a handy batsman with a top score of 88 not out...
before he was out caught by Lever off Snow for 8. The England fast bowler John Snow
John Snow (cricketer)
John Augustine Snow played cricket for Sussex and England in the 1960s and 1970s. Despite being the son of a country vicar and publishing two volumes of poetry Snow was England's most formidable fast bowler between Fred Trueman and Bob Willis and played Test Matches with both of them at either end...
wrote 'I have never come across another umpire so full of his own importance, so stubborn, lacking in humour, unreasonable and utterly unable to distinguish between a delivery short of a length which rise around the height of the rib cage and a genuine bouncer which goes through head high' and believed that chest high balls were not intimidatory. However, the great England umpire Dickie Bird wrote "as far as I am concerned, intimidatory bowling is the fast, short pitched ball into the region of the batsman's ribcage. When such a ball is fired in it is then that I feel an umpire must be firm...and tell the bowler to cut it out...that's the killer ball, and that is when I always step in". As Snow hit tailenders Garth McKenzie and Terry Jenner
Terry Jenner
Terrence James Jenner was an Australian cricketer who played nine Tests and one ODI from 1970 to 1975. He was primarily a leg-spin bowler and was known for his attacking, loopy style of bowling, but he was also a handy lower-order batsman...
on the head in the series and continually bowled short at the other Australian batsmen it was not unreasonable for Rowan to intervene. Snow thought this was partisanship as Alan Thomson
Alan Thomson
Alan Lloyd "Froggy" Thomson , a school teacher, is a former Australian cricketer and Australian rules football umpire.He played District cricket with the Fitzroy Cricket Club, and took 5/39 against Richmond in their first innings, in his first ever first XI match for the club, on Saturday, 27 March...
was not called to book when he bowled bouncers at Snow and six in one eight-ball over against Ray Illingworth
Ray Illingworth
Raymond Illingworth, CBE is a former English cricketer, cricket commentator and cricket administrator. He was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20,000 runs in First class cricket, and the last one to do so...
. Snow was twice warned by Rowan for intimidatory bowling in the Second Test at Perth, but refused to accept that rib high balls were intimidatory and continued to bowl them. As a result Snow was given an official warning, which meant that he would not be allowed to bowl if he was warned again. Illingworth told him that this was to be his last over in any case and the fast bowler sent his last ball flying over the head of Doug Walters
Doug Walters
Kevin Douglas Walters MBE in Dungog New South Wales, known as Doug Walters, is a former Australian cricketer. He was known as an attacking batsman, and also as a typical ocker.-First-class career:...
, turned to Rowan and said "Now that's a bouncer for you".
Even John Snow
John Snow (cricketer)
John Augustine Snow played cricket for Sussex and England in the 1960s and 1970s. Despite being the son of a country vicar and publishing two volumes of poetry Snow was England's most formidable fast bowler between Fred Trueman and Bob Willis and played Test Matches with both of them at either end...
applauded when Rowan and Tom Brooks
Tom Brooks
Thomas Francis Brooks OAM was an Australian Test cricket match umpire who was born in Paddington, New South Wales...
refused to start play at Melbourne in the abandoned Third Test. Ian Johnson
Ian Johnson (cricketer)
Ian William Geddes Johnson CBE was an Australian cricketer who played 45 Test matches as a slow off-break bowler between 1946 and 1956. Johnson captured 109 Test wickets at an average of 29.19 runs per wicket and as a lower order batsman made 1,000 runs at an average of...
and the Melbourne authorities were desperate to get the game going, but the umpires refused to be pressured as the field was quite unfit for play. A 40-over match was played, won by Australia by 5 wickets. Rowan (and Brooks) thus became the first umpires to stand in an One Day International match.
In the Sixth Test Boycott was run out for 58, but vocally disputed his dismissal and later pointedly refused to apologise for his behaviour, which lead to another press furore. However, on this occasion there was no clear evidence that Rowan's decision was incorrect.
The Seventh Test at Sydney on 12 February to 17 February 1971 was Rowan's last, with Tom Brooks
Tom Brooks
Thomas Francis Brooks OAM was an Australian Test cricket match umpire who was born in Paddington, New South Wales...
as his umpiring colleague. It was a dramatic game won by England by 62 runs to regain The Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
. Doug Walters
Doug Walters
Kevin Douglas Walters MBE in Dungog New South Wales, known as Doug Walters, is a former Australian cricketer. He was known as an attacking batsman, and also as a typical ocker.-First-class career:...
had to be stumped twice by Alan Knott
Alan Knott
Alan Philip Eric Knott is a former Kent County Cricket Club and English cricketer, as a wicket-keeper-batsman....
off Derek Underwood
Derek Underwood
Derek Underwood MBE is an English former international cricketer, and a former President of the MCC....
as he was given not out by Rowan the first time when on 41, but was a few balls later by Max O'Connell
Max O'Connell
Maxwell George O'Connell was an Australian Test cricket match umpire.He umpired 19 Test matches between 1971 and 1980. His first match, was the Fifth Test in the 1970–71 Ashes series at Melbourne on 21 January to 26 January 1971...
for 42. Keith Stackpole
Keith Stackpole
Keith Raymond Stackpole Junior is a former Victorian and Australian cricketer who played in 43 Tests and 6 ODIs from 1966 to 1974, who is now a radio cricket commentator...
was caught off a thick edge by Knott off Peter Lever
Peter Lever
Peter Lever is a former English cricketer, who played in seventeen Tests and ten ODIs for England from 1970 to 1975. He was a successful wicket taker, taking 41 victims from those seventeen Tests, and a handy batsman with a top score of 88 not out...
on 13, but was given not out by Rowan, the England captain Ray Illingworth
Ray Illingworth
Raymond Illingworth, CBE is a former English cricketer, cricket commentator and cricket administrator. He was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20,000 runs in First class cricket, and the last one to do so...
said "It was really unbelievable". Later in the innings Illingworth led the English players from the field following a crowd disturbance after fast bowler John Snow
John Snow (cricketer)
John Augustine Snow played cricket for Sussex and England in the 1960s and 1970s. Despite being the son of a country vicar and publishing two volumes of poetry Snow was England's most formidable fast bowler between Fred Trueman and Bob Willis and played Test Matches with both of them at either end...
had hit Australian lower-order batsman Terry Jenner
Terry Jenner
Terrence James Jenner was an Australian cricketer who played nine Tests and one ODI from 1970 to 1975. He was primarily a leg-spin bowler and was known for his attacking, loopy style of bowling, but he was also a handy lower-order batsman...
on the head with a bouncer
Bouncer (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a bouncer is a type of delivery, usually bowled by a fast bowler. It is pitched short so that it bounces on the pitch well short of the batsman and rears up to chest or head height as it reaches the batsman.Bouncers are used tactically to drive the batsman back on to his...
. Rowan had issued Snow with a warning for intimidatory bowling and Snow’s and Illingworth’s displeasure was clear to the crowd who booed passionately. When Snow finished his over and moved to his fielding position on the boundary, he was grabbed by a spectator, and had beer-cans thrown at him. Following the English walk-off, Rowan advised them to either resume or forfeit the match, and the players returned after the ground was cleared. In this he was support by the England manager David Clark
David Clark (cricketer)
David Graham Clark is a former English cricketer and cricket administrator.Clark was born in Barming, Kent. He played first-class cricket for five years, appearing for Kent. He was Kent's captain for the last three years of his career. He retired at the end of the 1951 season...
and Alan Barnes of the A.B.C.
In 1972 Rowan wrote The Umpire's Story which was highly critical of the England team, particularly of Illingworth and Snow. It even queried "was John Snow actually grabbed by a spectator who objected to Snow flattening an Australian batsman?" regardless of photographic evidence to the contrary. John Snow in his autobiography Cricket Rebel devoted a whole chapter to "Bitter Rows with Umpire Rowan".
1971/72 season
In 1971/72 season, a scheduled tour of Australia by South AfricaSouth African cricket team
The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...
was cancelled following political and moral protests against the apartheid
History of South Africa in the apartheid era
Apartheid was a system of racial segregation enforced by the National Party governments of South Africa between 1948 and 1994, under which the rights of the majority 'non-white' inhabitants of South Africa were curtailed and white supremacy and Afrikaner minority rule was maintained...
policies of the South African government. In its place a ‘World Team’ visited Australia and played a series of Test standard, although never officially recognised. Rowan stood in three of these matches, including the match at Perth
WACA Ground
The WACA is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. WACA are the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association....
where Dennis Lillee
Dennis Lillee
Dennis Keith Lillee, AM, MBE is a former Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation"...
took 8/29 in an innings.