‘Cricket needs a more modern president’: Lawrence takes on Gloucestershire role

David “Syd” Lawrence rises to his feet in a meeting room at Gloucestershire’s Nevil Road ground, right leg in a boot because of an achilles injury. His muscles ripple across his shoulders like Himalayan foothills, his hands colossal hams.

He is waiting to be unveiled as the club’s next president at that evening’s AGM, the first black president of Gloucestershire and thought to be the first black president at any county. He has big plans to open the game up to people of colour and to children from all backgrounds. “The game has gone through a watershed moment. It’s not looked pretty at all. Historically I suffered racism. And I think it’s important for me as a person of colour to be viewed in the community [to show] that anything is possible.”

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In the 1980s Lawrence pounded in at terrifying speeds, arms and legs flying off in all directions, his partnership with Courtney Walsh and Kevin Curran meaning that, for a while, Gloucestershire had one of the most feared attacks in the country. England picked him in 1988 and he became the first British-born black man to pull on the dark blue cap. He played five Tests and a single ODI until, on the last day of the 1992 Test against New Zealand at Wellington, he shattered his left kneecap as he reached his delivery stride, finishing his career aged 28.

Last year, in Sky’s You Guys are History documentary, Lawrence remembered a teammate leaving a banana skin outside his door at his first away match – pushing him to the gym to toughen up – and racial abuse from crowds. The club issued an apology and Lawrence said he would like to be more involved: the presidency is the result.

He intends to do