Phil Tufnell is among sports stars paying tribute at funeral of England cricketer David 'Syd' Lawrence who lost battle with motor neurone disease aged 61
Fast bowler turned nightclub owner, Lawrence, 61, died after a year-long battle with the debilitating Motor Neurone Disease (MND) on June 21.
In a career which was cruelly cut short just as he made a late breakthrough into the England team, Lawrence represented the national side in five Tests between 1988 and 1992 and took 515 first-class wickets over 17 years.
Off the field, Lawrence was held in such high regard that he was named president of Gloucestershire County Cricket Club in 2022, before being made an MBE last month in the King's birthday honours list.
The sport has mourned his death in the weeks that have since passed, evidenced by rows of the historic St Mary Redcliffe church in Bristol being packed with those looking to say their final goodbyes to the cricketing hero.
Lawrence was carried by his son at a service attended by family, friends and sporting icons like his England teammates, Tufnell, Jack Russell and Mark Alleyne, as well as Ipswich Town footballing legend, Marcus Stewart, who also has MND.
Led by Rev Rupert Martin, attendees at the funeral heard of Lawrence's love, personality and his willingness to always see the good in every situation.
A eulogy was read by George Orchard, while tributes came from those who knew him best - Shauna Mighty and Bev Powell, Alice Lawrence and his son, former professional rugby player, Buster Lawrence.
The order of service showed how Lawrence should be remembered: in his powerful prime, with a cricket sweater adorning his broad shoulders - before he spent his latter days in a wheelchair as a result of the neurological disease.
Inside were images of Lawrence as a bow-tied schoolboy, before he discovered he had such a terrific cricketing talent, and the back cover revealed an image of Lawrence riding one of his beloved motorcycles.
Mr Russell had the job of catching Lawrence's bowling behind the stumps since they were both children, before the pair went on to represent their nation together.
Paying tribute to his late friend outside the church, he said: 'Syd was everything because we grew up together, we were youngsters together at under-13s together, so we travelled the same path really, in the same changing room for many, many years together and he was really close.
'It's a difficult day for everyone, it's been a difficult time for the last year or so for his family in particular, but we're determined to give him a good send off because he meant so much to so many people.
'He was a special person, a great personality, larger than life, did everything at 100mph, 100 per cent, no half measures, and played his cricket like that. It's a sad day, we're all going to miss him, but he'll never ever be forgotten.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
24 minutes ago
- The Independent
The Ben Stokes revival spearheading England's charge at Old Trafford
Ben Stokes raised the ball that he had swung to dismiss Anshul Kamboj for a duck. Stokes has received plenty of applause and acclaim in the last few years, but never for this. The days when he took five wickets in an innings seemed consigned to the past; sometimes he didn't take five in a series. A day that featured a terrific opening partnership between Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley was shaped by the bowling double act of Jofra Archer and Stokes. The England captain was in fine company in another respect. Only Garry Sobers, Ian Botham and Jacques Kallis had made at least 10 Test centuries and got a minimum of five five-wicket hauls. Now Stokes is the fourth all-rounder in a select group. At a point in his career when he has gone two years without a Test hundred, his revival as a bowler was cemented with a landmark. Stokes being Stokes, it came when it mattered. England have the advantage heading into day three, just as their series lead owes much to Stokes' efforts with the ball at Lord's. He has been England's best bowler this series. He swings it more than Brydon Carse. He is quicker than Chris Woakes. He may be more durable than Jofra Archer. His first wicket of the Test was his biggest, Shubman Gill trapped leg before wicket without playing a shot. Sai Sudharsan and Washington Sundar were both caught at long leg but Stokes has the pace to bounce them. Shardul Tharkur was brilliantly held by Duckett in the gully. Kamboj got a beauty. He finished with 24-3-72-5, the last number significant, but the first as well. Stokes bowled 24 overs in the second innings at Lord's, 24 in the first at Old Trafford. It is becoming a regular workload. He has never bowled more overs in a series and he has three more innings to go. He has never taken more wickets in a series, his 16 beating the 15 he took in his first. But, after Liam Dawson 's first Test wicket since 2017, came Stokes' first five-wicket haul for eight years. His 6-22 against West Indies was before his World Cup final and Headingley 2019 heroics, before Bristol and Bazball. At 34, he has rewound the clock. In recent years, there were matches where Stokes didn't bowl, others where he was very much the fifth bowler. He had knee and hamstring injuries. He entered his mid-thirties. Even given Stokes' propensity for the unexpected, few envisaged this bowling comeback. Now he has drawn level with Darren Gough on 229 Test wickets; he may pass Sobers by the end of the series. It helped that he had support. He and Archer shared the six wickets to fall on Thursday. Archer, with his wonderful record against left-handers, dismissed Ravindra Jadeja, courtesy of a terrific catch from Harry Brook, and removed the off stump of Rishabh Pant, India's limping Lazarus, with a glorious delivery. Yet India's total of 358 had felt above par until England batted, before the deficit was under 200 when they still had their openers together and just 133 at the close, with Ollie Pope and Joe Root together at 225-2. The conditions were better for England, with cloud cover when they bowled and the sun emerging when they batted. Yet England also bowled better. India were too wayward with the new ball, with even Jasprit Bumrah less menacing than usual, allowing England to rattle along at more than five an over. Duckett raced away at better than a run a ball, getting 26 before Crawley was off the mark. Yet he overtook his partner in the evening session. Crawley, back on the scene of his 189 in the Ashes, enjoyed Old Trafford again. He had one reprieve, when he didn't play a shot against Mohammed Siraj and was rapped on the pads. Otherwise, it was the sort of innings to explain England's unwavering faith in him and to invite questions why a player with such strokeplay barely averages 30. There was, though, no century for either, Crawley on 84 edging Jadeja to KL Rahul at slip, Duckett taking a swipe to give Kamboj his maiden Test wicket. Gone for 94, his conversion rate remains too low, but his attacking bent makes him invaluable. Duckett had set the tone, taking three boundaries from the debutant Kamboj's first over. Shubman Gill's surprise decision to give the newcomer the new ball backfired. Mohammed Siraj had struck early in three of the previous four innings and he was relegated to first change. By then, Duckett had seized the initiative. By the time Kamboj eventually struck, England were only 161 behind. It was the second time in the series that Crawley and Duckett had added more than 150. Their stand of 188 at Headingley laid the platform for victory. It is too soon to say this was a sequel. But if it is, it may need another influential display from the bowler Stokes may be coming to trust the most. Himself.
BBC News
25 minutes ago
- BBC News
Stokes and openers put England on top against India
Fourth Rothesay Test, Emirates Old Trafford (day two of five)India 358: Sudharsan 61, Jaiswal 58, Pant 54; Stokes 5-72, Archer 3-73England 225-2: Duckett 94, Crawley 84England are 133 runs behindScorecard Ben Stokes' first five-wicket haul in eight years and a dizzying opening partnership gave England much the better of the second day of the fourth Test against India at Old Crawley and Ben Duckett flayed some wayward India bowling at a rate of more than five an over in their stand of 166, taking a huge chunk out of India's Crawley, his 84 on the ground he made his career-highlight 189 against Australia two years ago was a welcome contribution. Duckett, the premier opener in the world, crunched they fell in the space of two overs, Ollie Pope and Joe Root were able to take England to 225-2, 133 took three of the six India wickets to fall on Thursday to end with 5-72, while Jofra Archer continued his comeback with were superb with the ball, though they were partly held up by the bravery of Rishabh retired on day one with a suspected broken foot after being struck by Chris Woakes. In scenes of high drama, he hobbled down the stairs to resume his innings on 37 and nudged his way to 54 before Archer spectacularly uprooted his off is not keeping wicket and India are yet to confirm his injury. It seems likely he will bat in the second innings, when the tourists look set for a battle to stay in the series. Pant bravery fails to halt England surge This day had a bit of everything, helped by conditions that gave something to bowlers and batters were excellent and a little luckless with the ball, led by the rejuvenated Stokes. Pant's hobble down the dressing-room steps produced a moment of pure theatre, then the way the home openers climbed into the India bowling was freewheeling the end of it all, England have a platform from which they can win the series with a match to return was as remarkable as it was unexpected. After a scan overnight, he arrived at the ground in a protective boot. Still, he was seen in the dressing room wearing his whites and, when Shardul Thakur became the second wicket of the day to fall, Pant limped to the an understandable lack of foot movement, he faced 27 balls and even heaved Archer for six. India added 35 valuable runs while he was at the two teams have made more than India's 358 batting first in a Test on this ground and gone on to lose, so their total looked competitive until England tucked in.
Metro
an hour ago
- Metro
I never lost faith in England and they can beat Spain in Euros final
Somehow, England have made it to the European Championship final again. It doesn't matter how – we are there. Although it was tough, but ultimately joyful, I felt we had more control over the semi-final against Italy, even though we went in 1-0 down at half-time. I was in Geneva as a fan, sitting in the stands with the players' families, and I don't think anyone around me was doubting we would get back into it. We did look flat and that could have been down to the exertions of the Sweden quarter-final last Thursday. This time, at least, we only needed one goal rather than two. It turned out to be an unbelievable night. Michelle Agyemang's Ghanaian surname literally means 'saviour of the nation' and she did exactly that –saving the team by scoring in the 96th minute to get them to extra-time. England had the momentum and Chloe Kelly's winner a minute before the dreaded penalty shoot-out, considering how bad the spot-kicks were last time, felt so, so good. I'm being a bit tongue in cheek but nobody wants the lottery of penalties. Now we can go and win the title again and become the first England team to win a major tournament back-to-back. I really didn't envisage anything other than us going and winning the semi. At no point did I doubt that would happen. Maybe that is my naive optimism but it has seemed to serve me well so far out here. Now, our opponents in the final are a different prospect. We know what Spain are very, very good at and it's pretty open and relatively simple to dissect how they can be got at too. We beat them earlier this year in the Nations League so we know we can do it – and that goes for any team the Lionesses face. That's not arrogant or bullish either, just factual. To stop the world champions, who better to have around to advise the coaching staff about the Barcelona core of this team than our former Barca players Lucy Bronze and Keira Walsh? For us, it will be about balls in behind and the pace of our forwards. We have the pace to be able to get at Spain and especially centre-back and captain Irene Paredes. They have chinks in their armour at set-pieces. You want your substitutes to come on and make the sort of impact England's have so far and I don't think any of the players would choose starting a game over getting the end result, which is what Sarina Wiegman specialises in. Every player understands their job with England and whether that role changes for the final or not, they will accept their part in this team and absolutely go and do what's best for their country. Jess Carter came on very late against Italy after starting every match at the tournament before that and it was great to see her on the pitch after everything she had to endure in the week prior to the game, having revealed the racist abuse aimed at her on social media. Everyone is very much united and the Italy win demonstrated that. Yes, the super-subs are knocking on the door for starting spots but they really have carried out their role with great success. Sarina never changed her starting XI in 2022 when we won the tournament so why would you change something that is so well-rehearsed and understood by the players? She could be tempted to go with two up front, with Agyemang alongside Alessia Russo, although it is a rarity for the manager to change her starting XI in reality. More Trending It is crazy Sarina has now reached five successive major tournament finals as manager of either England or the Netherlands. What she does is create an environment off as well as on the pitch where players can thrive. There is never a doubt from her that England can get an outcome and for her, rightly, the result outweighs everything. That's not complacency – just real, real belief. They now need to show that, because we all know how difficult this is going to be if our never-say-die Lionesses are to make history. But we can do it again, we really can. Rachel Brown-Finnis will be part of the BBC's team covering the Euro 2025 final on Sunday MORE: Wild Nutrition is hosting its first ever London pop-up – here's why you don't want to miss it MORE: Donald Trump's Epstein files problem won't go away – what will he do next? MORE: Jeremy Corbyn confirms launch of new party – but people are confused already
