 Ames in about 1930 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Leslie Ethelbert George Ames | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1905-12-03)3 December 1905 Elham, Kent, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 27 February 1990(1990-02-27) (aged 84) Canterbury,Kent, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Legbreak | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Wicket-keeper | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Test debut (cap 244) | 17 August 1929 v South Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 3 March 1939 v South Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1926–1951 | Kent | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:CricInfo,11 June 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Leslie Ethelbert George AmesCBE (3 December 1905 – 27 February 1990) was an Englishcricketer and footballer. He was awicket-keeper andbatsman for theEngland cricket team andKent County Cricket Club.
Born atElham, Kent, Ames began hisfirst-class career with his home county ofKent in 1926, and was a regular player until the 1950s. Ames played 45 tests for England, and was part of the England squad that wonthe ashes in the infamousbodyline series of1932–33. In his obituary,Wisden described him as the greatestwicket-keeper-batsman of all time. He isthe only wicket-keeper-batsman to score a hundred first-class centuries, and was aWisden cricketer of the year in1928.
Born inElham, Kent, in 1905, he was mentored byFrancis MacKinnon, an ex-county player who lived in the village and then, after leaving theHarvey Grammar School,[1]Folkestone, byGerry Weigall, the Kent county coach, who encouraged him to learn to keep wicket so he would have a better chance of playing for the county.[2]
He received the call to play for Kent while playing inWest Malling and made his debut for the county on 7 July 1926 againstWarwickshire at theNevill Ground inRoyal Tunbridge Wells. He scored 35 and took four catches, despite not playing as a wicket-keeper in the match. He played one moreCounty Championship match that season before becoming a regular in the1927 season.[3]
He went on the1928–29 England tour of Australia, but only played in state matches. He made his debut for England in the Fifth Test againstSouth Africa atThe Oval on 17 August 1929, making a duck and taking two catches.[4] His cap number for England is 244.[5]
InTest cricket, Ames played 47 matches, scoring 2,434 runs with abatting average of 40.56. He took 74catches and made 23stumpings. In first-class cricket, he scored 37,248 runs at an average of 43.51, including 102 centuries and 176 fifties, and took 704 catches and 417 stumpings. Unusually for a wicket-keeper, he alsobowled over 200overs, taking 24 first-classwickets with abowling average of 33.37.
Ames was one of theWisden Cricketers of the Year in 1929. He holds a number of wicket-keeping and batting records:
After his final playing season in 1951, Ames became a successful manager and administrator. He managed MCC tours to theWest Indies in 1967/68 when he deemed in his post-tour report thatBasil D'Oliveira was a 'bad tourist' who did not adjust well to overseas conditions, spent much of his time partying, and generally detracted from team morale. This had it has been argued some role in justifying the original non-selection of D'Oliveira for the 1968/9 tour to South Africa.[7] When that tour was cancelled he managed the subsequent replacement visit toSri Lanka and Pakistan in 1968/69. In 1950 he had been the first professional to be appointed as a Test selector,[8] continuing until 1956 and serving again in 1958. He was the secretary and manager of Kent County Cricket Club, including when the side won the County Championship in 1970.
In August 1957, Ames formed an invitation team to play thetouring West Indies at theHastings Festival. The match was billed as L. E. G. Ames' XI v West Indians. Ames' team includedDenis Compton,Colin Cowdrey,Jack Robertson,George Tribe andJohn Murray. Cowdrey scored 143 on the first day but West Indies won by 4 wickets.[9][10][11][12]
Ames joinedfootball clubClapton Orient in 1926 making his League debut against Preston North End in January 1927 and a total of 14 senior appearances in five seasons,[13] before briefly playing forGillingham in 1931, where he made five appearances and scored one goal.[14] His cricketing career was interrupted by theSecond World War, during which Ames served with theRoyal Air Force rising to the rank ofSquadron Leader. He returned to play as a batsman for Kent after the war.
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Media related toLes Ames at Wikimedia Commons