David Valentine Lawrence (nicknamed Syd) (born 28 January 1964) is a former English

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er, who played in five

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

and one ODI for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

from 1988 to 1992. Lawrence was a popular, wholehearted and powerfully-built

fast bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...

, before a particularly horrific knee injury curtailed his career.

Life and career

Born in

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

, England to

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n parents, by the age of 17 he was playing for

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, opening the bowling with

Courtney Walsh Courtney Andrew Walsh OJ (born 30 October 1962) is a former Jamaican cricketer who represented the West Indies from 1984 to 2001, captaining the West Indies in 22 Test matches. He is a fast bowler and considered one of the all-time greats, best ...

. His vigorous bowling action generated great pace, although at times he was also prone to inaccuracy.Cricinfo
He toured Sri Lanka with an England 'B' side in 1985-6. Lawrence was certainly one of the fastest bowlers in domestic cricket of his era. During the 1988 season, in a match against the touring

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

, in gloomy conditions at Bristol, a delivery from Lawrence struck batter

Phil Simmons Philip Verant Simmons (born 18 April 1963) is a Trinidadian cricket coach and former cricketer who was an all-rounder played as an opening batsman, a medium-fast bowler and a slip fielder. He is the current coach of the West Indies cricket ...

on the head. Simmons had not been wearing a helmet, and his heart stopped beating as he was rushed to hospital for emergency brain surgery; he made a full recovery. Later that season Lawrence came into the England team for the one-off

Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. Although he finished on the winning side in that Test, England's first victory in a Test match for nearly two years, with the emergence of

Devon Malcolm Devon Eugene Malcolm (born 22 February 1963) is a former English cricketer. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Malcolm played in 40 Test matches and 30 One Day Internationals for the England cricket team. At his best, he was the unquestionably the fast ...

he did not force his way back into the team until the

Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nottingham. Trent Bridge is also t ...

Test of 1991. The

were then the opponents, so that Lawrence faced up to the recovered Simmons again, dismissing him in the second innings. Lawrence then took his only Test

five-wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman. Takin ...

, 5 for 106, at

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

, contributing to England's series-levelling win in the Fifth Test. To Lawrence fell the distinction of being the last bowler to dismiss

Viv Richards Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards (born 7 March 1952) is an Antiguan retired cricketer who represented the West Indies cricket team between 1974 and 1991. Batting generally at number three in a dominant West Indies side, Richards is widely ...

in Test cricket. He retained his place for another subsequent match against Sri Lanka. He also played his only

one-day international A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World Cup ...

that season at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

, returning the best bowling figures in the match, 4 for 67 in 11 eventful overs, including his Gloucestershire colleague Walsh among his wickets. As of July 2022 these remain the best bowling figures recorded by a bowler who played only one one-day international. Having just established himself as part of England's primary bowling strikeforce, he suffered a knee injury on 10 February 1992, in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, New Zealand, while playing his fifth Test for his country. In the middle of his delivery stride, his left

patella The patella, also known as the kneecap, is a flat, rounded triangular bone which articulates with the femur (thigh bone) and covers and protects the anterior articular surface of the knee joint. The patella is found in many tetrapods, such as m ...

(knee cap) shattered, the noise of it reaching as far as the boundary; spectators said the sound of his knee splitting was "like a pistol shot". Lawrence collapsed to the ground screaming, and was eventually carried from the field on a stretcher, comforted by team mate Ian Botham. Despite two come-back attempts for his county, including the first after a full thirteen months of recuperation, when the knee cracked yet again during a gymnasium work-out, he was never able to play for England again and was eventually forced to retire from the sport at the age of 29. Later he made a career for himself in bodybuilding.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, David 1964 births Living people England Test cricketers England One Day International cricketers English cricketers Gloucestershire cricketers Cricketers from Gloucester English people of Jamaican descent Black British sportspeople Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Test and County Cricket Board XI cricketers