David Lawrence (cricketer)


David Valentine Lawrence is a former English cricketer, who played in five Tests and one ODI for England from 1988 to 1992.
Lawrence was a popular, wholehearted and powerfully-built fast bowler, before a particularly horrific knee injury curtailed his career.

Life and career

Born in England to Jamaican parents, by the age of 17 he was playing for Gloucestershire, opening the bowling with Courtney Walsh. His vigorous bowling action generated great pace, although at times he was also prone to inaccuracy.
He came into the England team for the one-off Test against Sri Lanka in 1988, but did not force his way back until 1991, when he took five wickets and contributed to England's series-levelling win in the Fifth Test against the West Indies at The Oval.
However, having just established himself as England's primary bowling strikeforce, he suffered a most appalling knee injury on 10 February 1992, in Wellington, New Zealand, while playing for his country. In the middle of his delivery stride, his left patella 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 in extreme agony, 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.