Gloucestershire fast bowler<\/a> David \u2018Syd\u2019 Lawrence has revealed writing his autobiography was a \u201crace against the clock\u201d.<\/p>\nFrom becoming the first British-born black man to play Test cricket for England, to running Dojo nightclub in Bristol\u2019s Park Row for more than 25 years \u2013 not to mention winning the West of England amateur bodybuilding title three times \u2013 whatever Syd has set his mind to achieving, he has done so with skill and a flourish.<\/p>\n
But last June he was forced to accept a fresh challenge.<\/p>\n
Following months of inconclusive tests at a Bristol hospital, he was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND).<\/p>\n
Already left without the use of his legs, he had to face a new reality that would mean a deterioration across the rest of his body, a loss of independence, the requirement of carers, and gradually the loss of his voice.<\/p>\n
For a once powerfully built athlete with booming voice to match, this was a particularly cruel fate, knowing all his physical abilities would be stripped away from him bit by bit.<\/p>\n
So before his voice disappeared completely and he was forced to rely on a voice bank for communication, he committed to telling his life story.<\/p>\n
In Syd\u2019s Voice is the culmination of that decision, detailing the most recent months since his diagnosis, alongside the memories of his 61 years so far.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing diagnosed with MND puts everything into perspective and was a sudden jolt that I definitely wasn\u2019t expecting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy life took a dramatically different turn and made me think a lot about the things I have done, the people I have met and the life I have led.<\/p>\n
\u201cCommitting my story to a book was something I had been thinking about for a while and the process had actually already begun before I received the news that turned my life upside down.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe deadline had changed though and I knew that I needed to tell my story before my voice was taken away from me. It became a race against the clock, and thankfully we managed to beat it.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom a humble start in Gloucester I have travelled the world and connected with some incredible people, with amazing talents and who have made it a lot of fun. My life is very different today, and I\u2019ve been very honest about that in the book, but that\u2019s only a small part of my story.\u201d<\/p>\n
Co-author Dean Wilson said: \u201cSyd has led a fascinating life, full of twists and turns and it would have made for a great read even without the very latest development. That is why I was delighted to get involved and help get his life on to the page.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the enjoyable and light-hearted way we started things soon gave way to an altogether different experience following his diagnosis. It became a far more emotional and passionate project and one that I am both sad and uplifted to have worked on.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is something warm and genuine about Syd, and that nature is still there even though he has physically diminished before our eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis book has that character at its core throughout.\u201d<\/p>\n
A minimum of 50p, evenly split between the MND Association and the Cricketers\u2019 Trust will be donated for every copy sold. The book is released on Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease last year Gabriel Shepard Assistant Head of Print 05:00, 10 Jun…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172111,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,748,393,7618,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-172110","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-england-cricket-team","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114657350310596000","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1_David-Lawrence-portrait-Copy-2.jpg\")
Gloucester cricket legend David ‘Syd’ Lawrence (Picture: Gloucestershire CC) <\/p>\n