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David 'Syd' Lawrence: Gloucestershire issue apology to former bowler over historical racist abuse he suffered

"I remember my first away game at Gloucestershire. Somebody knocks on my door in the evening and one of my team-mates has left a banana skin," said David 'Syd' Lawrence in Sky Sports' 'You Guys Are History'; Gloucestershire "apologise unreservedly" for all the hurt Lawrence has experienced

Monday 27 September 2021 15:27, UK

David 'Syd' Lawrence
Image: David 'Syd' Lawrence has received an apology from Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire have apologised to former bowler David 'Syd' Lawrence after he spoke out about incidents of racist abuse he suffered as a player.

Lawrence, the first British-born black man to play for England, was appearing on a Sky Sports documentary called 'You Guys Are History' when he recounted his experiences of racism while playing cricket in England in the 1980s.

In the documentary, Lawrence recalls how he was racially abused by a Gloucestershire team-mate early on in his career.

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Mark Butcher tells the story of England's black cricketers. Episode 1 goes back to where it all began and looks at the challenges England's black cricketers faced on and off the field in the 1980s.

"I remember my first away game at Gloucestershire. Somebody knocks on my door in the evening and one of my team-mates has left a banana skin," said Lawrence in the Sky Sports documentary 'You Guys Are History'.

"I have to play with that person for the next 13 or 14 years. When that happened to me, I said 'I am going to be harder, tougher than ever. No one is ever going to push me around.'"

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Mark Butcher looks at the rise in numbers of Black professional cricketers in the 1990s - a decade that saw a number of stand-out performances from England's Black players

Gloucestershire said the "behaviour and attitudes David experienced were as unacceptable then as they are today" in a statement released after arranging a meeting between him and the club's chair and chief executive.

The statement read: "Immediately after the transmission of the programme, and on hearing of this incident, the club contacted David; he has now met both the chair and chief executive to discuss this in detail.

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In Chapter Three of Sky Sports' documentary series, You Guys Are History, Mark Butcher examines why there's been such a severe decline in the number of Black British professional cricketers since the turn of the century.

"He also talked about another historical incident where he was racially abused by the crowd at an away fixture, but this was never investigated by the club.

"The behaviour and attitudes David experienced were as unacceptable then as they are today. The club therefore wishes to apologise unreservedly to David for all the hurt he has experienced, both as a Gloucestershire player and as part of the wider cricketing network."

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