Gloucestershire announces David Lawrence as their first Black president
Apr 20, 2022
London [UK], April 20 : Former England pacer David Lawrence has been appointed as the Gloucestershire's first Black president, in the club's 152-year history.
Lawrence, whose career in England's cricket was forcibly cut short after he suffered a horrific knee injury in 1992, claimed 625 wickets in 280 matches for Gloucestershire between 1981 and 1997, in which time he formed a feared pace attack alongside Courtney Walsh and Kevin Curran.
"I'm a local boy, born in Gloucester itself and I came to Bristol when I was 16, so to be back as President is a great honour for me. It does show you how far we've come as a Club, it shows me where the game is going and needs to go," said Lawrence as reported by ESPNcricinfo.
"But I'm not here just as a token gesture, and what I mean by that is a lot has happened in cricket over the last six months, and we know we need to do more within the game. I'm happy to be making sure we are going in the right direction. It's time for more diversity and I know that I'm going to be the first President of colour at Gloucestershire and that means a lot to me," he added.
The former pacer has replaced Roger Gibbons on a two-year term, as the president of Gloucestershire.
"I think it's important that we get more inner-city kids playing the game, black, white, male and female. I would love to see a local boy walk out to play for Gloucestershire. That would give me immense pleasure to see that happen and that's what we want; we all want to see more local boys and girls playing for Gloucestershire," he said.