David ‘Syd’ Lawrence was presented with a number of challenges both on and off the cricket field but he met each of them with magnanimity and resilience.
Racially abused by a team-mate as a teenager, Lawrence had the last laugh by, in his own words, “rocking and rumbling” for Gloucestershire and becoming the first British-born black man to play for England before being cut down in his prime.
Lawrence refused to feel sorry for himself and that much was evident when he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease last year, raising money and spreading awareness of the condition which robbed him of his voice and ability to walk before his death, aged 61.
Affectionately known as Syd after the British bandleader, Lawrence was born on January 28, 1964, in Gloucester to Jamaican parents, inheriting his love for cricket from his father.
He was only 17 when he opened the bowling for Gloucestershire alongside a famous Jamaican in Courtney Walsh although memories of his debut season are soured by a banana being left outside the door of his hotel room by an unnamed peer.
“I just sat in that room thinking: ‘I’m a cricketer, what makes me different?’” Lawrence reflected to the Guardian years later. “Why would somebody want to do that, just because of the colour of my skin?”
While he received an unreserved apology from Gloucestershire in 2021, Lawrence initially had to shrug off the incident for fear of being perceived as difficult and he instead channelled any frustration by becoming one of the speediest, if occasionally wayward, operators on the county circuit.
A strapping fast bowler, he took 625 wickets in 280 games for Gloucestershire but is just as remembered for his England outings, starting against Sri Lanka in 1988, where he claimed three dismissals.
Lawrence waited another three years for his next appearance, claiming 14 wickets in three Tests in 1991, the highlight being a five-for against the West Indies to help England seal a series-levelling win at the Oval, with Desmond Haynes and Viv Richards among his haul.
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He also made his lone ODI appearance in the same summer but Lawrence’s career was halted in its tracks the following year as he badly fractured his left kneecap after falling awkwardly when running into bowl on the final day of a Test against New Zealand in Wellington.
His England days were immediately over aged 28 following 18 wickets in five Tests but he made a brief county comeback in 1997, playing four first-class games for Gloucestershire before hanging up his boots – 16 years after he first played professionally.
Lawrence became a competitive bodybuilder following his retirement and he was also a nightclub owner in Bristol.
He was back in the public eye after detailing his racism experiences in his playing days, before in April 2022 he became Gloucestershire’s first black president.
Following his MND diagnosis and with Lawrence already confined to a custom-made wheelchair, he was presented with the T20 Blast trophy by James Bracey last September in emotionally charged scenes after Gloucestershire ended a nine-year wait for silverware.
Lawrence dictated his own recently-released autobiography, while he received an MBE earlier this month in the King’s Birthday Honours for his outstanding services to cricket.
“It is an incredibly proud moment,” he said. “It is not something that I ever thought would sit after my name, but I am absolutely delighted that it will do so for however long I am here and will be a part of my legacy when I am gone.”
Lawrence is survived by wife Gaynor and son Buster, an ex-professional rugby union player.
