James Leaf
English cricketer and British Army officer (1900–1972)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James Gordon Leaf (18 October 1900 – 8 December 1972) was a British Army officer and English cricketer[1] who played first-class cricket for the British Army cricket team and played international matches for the Egypt national cricket team.[2]
Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire, England
Osmaston, Derbyshire, England
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | James Gordon Leaf | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 18 October 1900 Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire, England | ||||||||||||||
| Died | 8 December 1972 (aged 72) Osmaston, Derbyshire, England | ||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||
| 1937 | Army | ||||||||||||||
| Only FC | 22 May 1937 Army v Oxford University | ||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Source: CricketArchive, 26 April 2008 | |||||||||||||||
Biography
Born in Shipston-on-Stour in 1900,[2] James Leaf attended Harrow School, playing a match for them against Winchester College in 1918. From Harrow he went to the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and on graduation was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the 15th Hussars on 24 December 1920.[3] The regiment merged with the 20th Hussars in 1922, Leaf continued as a second lieutenant in the new regiment, the 14th/20th Hussars,[4] until his promotion to lieutenant on 24 December 1922 when he transferred to the 15th/19th Hussars.[5] He played two matches for Egypt against the Free Foresters in 1927.[6] He resigned his commission on 20 October 1928,[7] but rejoined the army (and the 15th/19th) on 10 December 1930, with reduced seniority (from 29 August 1926).[8] He was promoted captain on 20 November 1934.[9]
He played his one first-class match for the Army against Oxford University in May 1937.[10] He was promoted major on 12 February 1940, shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War.[11] Between 1942 and 1945, he played six matches for the Catterick Garrison cricket team against Durham.[6] He retired from the army on 18 October 1947.[12] He died in Osmaston in 1972.[2]