Les Groves
New Zealand sportsman (1911–1990)
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Leslie Joseph Groves (9 June 1911 – 4 September 1990) was a New Zealand sportsman. In association football he represented New Zealand in two matches at international level. In cricket, he played 16 first-class matches for Otago between the 1929–30 and 1949–50 seasons.[1]
Leslie Joseph Groves | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 9 June 1911 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 4 September 1990 (aged 79) Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cricket career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cricket information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm leg break | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1929/30–1949/50 | Otago | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 13 May 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Groves was born at Dunedin in 1911 and educated there at Otago Boys' High School. He worked as a manager.[2]
Groves played association football for Otago and represented the New Zealand national football team. He played two official A-international matches for the All Whites in 1933 against trans-Tasman neighbours Australia as part of a 13 match tour of Australia,[3] the first a 2–4 loss on 5 June 1933, his second another 2–4 loss on 24 June.[4]
Groves played cricket sporadically for Otago in a career of 16 first-class matches spread over 20 years. A leg-spin bowler, he took his best figures of 6 for 88 and 3 for 46 against the touring Fijian team in 1947–48, helping Otago to victory by 47 runs.[5]
Groves served with the New Zealand Army in Italy in the Second World War as a private.[6][7] Following his death in 1990 obituaries were published in the 1991 New Zealand Cricket Almanack and the 1991 Wisden.[2]