Former England spinner Phil Tufnell told BBC Test Match Special that Lawrence was a “great man” and a “fierce competitor”.<\/p>\n
“He was a sight to behold coming in with the ball in his hand,” added Tufnell. “He had power and determination and left nothing out there on the field.<\/p>\n
“He was a great friend of mine. An intimidating sight but with a warm heart and a great sense of humour. He would fill the room with smiles and laughter and stories.”<\/p>\n
BBC chief cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew said every ball Lawrence delivered was “like an explosion of energy”.<\/p>\n
“Syd never left anything out there and he was so proud to be picked for England,” he added.<\/p>\n
“He was a dear man. He was such fun on the field, always had a smile between every ball.”<\/p>\n
Former England batter Mark Butcher called Lawrence a “full-throttle, big-hearted individual” who “wore his heart on his sleeve”.<\/p>\n
“Every time you met him there was a warmth there, a genuine love of seeing his old friends and a genuine sense of how much he enjoyed his career,” Butcher told Sky Sports.<\/p>\n
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) also paid tribute to a “pioneering fast bowler whose career and character left an indelible mark on English cricket” and called Lawrence’s 5-106 against the West Indies at the Oval in 1991 as his “finest moment” for his country. <\/p>\n
“His impact on the game extended far beyond the boundary ropes,” said ECB chair Richard Thompson. <\/p>\n
“As a fast bowler, he thrilled crowds with his pace and passion. As a leader and advocate, he broke barriers and inspired change, becoming a powerful voice for inclusion and representation in our sport.<\/p>\n
“Even in the face of his illness, David showed extraordinary strength and dignity, continuing to uplift others with his resilience and spirit. He leaves behind a legacy that will endure in the hearts of all who love cricket.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former England spinner Phil Tufnell told BBC Test Match Special that Lawrence was a “great man” and a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":205491,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4101],"tags":[1406,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-205490","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-cricket","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114727881865766461","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205490","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=205490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}