Johnny Lawrence

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.

Early career and playing style

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."