Tributes have been paid to late Bermuda Cricket Board of Control vice-president Rudolph “Mutt” Lawrence, who recently passed away in his 94th year.

An avid cricket fan and outstanding cricketer in his own right, Lawrence is perhaps best known for his contributions off the pitch as an administrator on the BCBC’s executive committee while serving under president Ed Bailey, who spoke highly of his late colleague.

“Rudolph ‘Mutt’ Lawrence is one of the best administrators that I have ever served with. He was a very dedicated administrator and an avid cricket fan,” Bailey told The Royal Gazette.

“When we had tours coming in he would give his right arm to make sure that it was a success.

“He was always a keen adviser and was always willing to travel with the team. He managed teams to England and Malaysia and escorted me to several ICC meetings.

“He served on several subcommittees with the ICC and when we got into the Red Stripe he also escorted me down to Antigua when the West Indies Cricket Board’s headquarters were there.

“He brought very good ideas and had good knowledge of the game and was so loyal and dedicated to the game.

“He served extensively as an administrator that I think Bermuda cricket is indebted to.”

Lawrence also served on the former Somers Isles Cricket League executive committee.

“He had served on the Somers Isles Cricket League for several years before it was consolidated into the Bermuda Cricket Board of Control into one body instead of it being fractured,” said Bailey, who has been a member of Marylebone Cricket Club, guardian of the Laws of the Game, for nearly 30 years.

“He was not only a dedicated administrator but also a very good cricket colleague and a good friend.”

The Somers Isles Cricket League amalgamated with the Bermuda Cricket Club in 1948 to form the Bermuda Cricket Board of Control, which later became the modern-day Bermuda Cricket Board in 2003.

Before becoming an administrator, Lawrence earned a reputation as an outstanding middle-order batter and fielder as a member of a powerful Flatts Victoria Recreation Club team that dominated the Eastern Counties in the 1950s.

“When Flatts were on top of their game, he was there with that group along with the likes of the late Alfred ‘Fleas’ Hall and Dennis Wainwright,” Harold Millett, the former St David’s wicketkeeper-batsman and Eastern Countries president, told The Royal Gazette.

“He was outstanding with the bat in the middle order and also a good fielder in his heyday.

“He really loved the game. He was a very passionate and energetic cricketer in his prime and a force to be reckoned with.”