Johnny Lawrence
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | John Lawrence | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
29 March 1911 Carlton, Leeds, England |
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| Died | 10 December 1988 (aged 77) Toulston, Tadcaster, Yorkshire, England |
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| Batting style | Right-handed batsman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling style | Right-arm leg-break and googly | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | All-rounder | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | JM Lawrence (son) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1946–55 | Somerset | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1958–67 | Lincolnshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First-class debut | 11 May 1946 Somerset v Essex | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last First-class | 1 September 1955 Somerset v Sussex | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| List A debut | 4 May 1966 Lincolnshire v Hampshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last List A | 5 May 1966 Lincolnshire v Hampshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source: CricketArchive, 13 December 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
John Lawrence, known as "Johnny", was a diminutive Yorkshire-born all-round cricketer whose middle or lower order batting and leg-break and googly bowling were of great importance to Somerset in the 10 cricket seasons immediately after the Second World War.
Born at Carlton, Leeds, on 29 March 1911, Lawrence made his name in the Bradford Cricket League in the 1930s, but was not able to break into the strong Yorkshire side, though he played Second Eleven cricket at Minor Counties level. He qualified by residence to play for Somerset at the end of 1939 but then had to wait until after World War II before making his debut, by which time he was 35 years old.
Short and enthusiastic, Lawrence was a pugnacious batsman who, according to one account, "could on occasions bat with irremovable resolve". As a bowler, in the description of the cricket writer Alan Gibson, Lawrence was "one of the slowest bowlers I have ever seen. There were times when he would deliberately bowl slower and slower, until he almost reached the state of Sir James Barrie, who declared that he could bowl a ball so slow that if he did not like the look of it he could run after it and catch it."
Lawrence was an instant success in Somerset's 1946 side, winning his county cap in his first season, scoring 968 first-class runs and taking 66 wickets. The wickets were fewer and more expensive in 1947, but he took his first five-wicket haul in an innings with six for 53 against Hampshire at Weston-super-Mare. At the end of the 1947 season, though a Somerset player, he was picked for the North team in the regular North v South match at Harrogate.
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