DAVID ‘SYD’ LAWRENCE, the former England fast bowler, has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

Lawrence, 60, was the first British-born black man to play cricket for England and is one of most popular and colourful characters in the game.

He has been a bodybuilder and night club owner since retiring from cricket and is currently president of his county, Gloucestershire.

He insists he will continue in the role despite his shattering diagnosis.

MND claimed the life of rugby league star Rob Burrow earlier this month and Scottish rugby union icon Doddie Weir passed away in November 2022.

It is a degenerative condition which affects the brain and nerves. There is currently no cure.

Gloucestershire chief executive Will Brown said: “David is an icon of the game, a club legend and a trailblazer as the first British-born back player to play for England.

“More than that, he is the best of people – kind, loving, considerate and an inspiration to us all here at Gloucestershire.”

Lawrence is known throughout cricket as ‘Syd’ – nicknamed after the bandleader Syd Lawrence.

He was a big, fast, energetic bowler with a huge heart. He played five Tests and was the last bowler to dismiss the great Viv Richards in Test cricket.

But Lawrence’s England career finished when he broke his left kneecap while bowling on the final day of a Test match against New Zealand in Wellington in 1992.

The sound of the bone snapping and Lawrence’s howls of pain reduced several of his team-mates to tears.

It was typical of Lawrence that he was giving 100 per cent effort even though the match was dead and the ground was almost empty.

He was taken away on a stretcher and never played properly again, although he did attempt a comeback in 1997.

An ECB statement said: “‘Syd’ embodies everything that is great about our game and our hearts go out to him and his family.”