 Photograph of Leslie Gay in the 1890s | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Leslie Hewitt Gay | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1871-03-24)24 March 1871 Brighton, Sussex, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 1 November 1949(1949-11-01) (aged 78)[1] Sidmouth, Devon, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Wicket-keeper | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Charlotte Evelyn Gay (sister) Kingsmill Key (cousin) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Only Test (cap 91) | 14 December 1894 v Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1891–1894 | Cambridge University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1894–1904 | Marylebone Cricket Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1894 | Somerset | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1900 | Hampshire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:Cricinfo,17 December 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Leslie Hewitt Gay (24 March 1871 – 1 November 1949) was an English dual-international sportsman who played bothcricket andfootball. In cricket, he played predominantly as awicket-keeper forCambridge University, but also playedcounty cricket forHampshire,Somerset. He playedTest cricket forEngland once during the1894–95 Ashes Series in Australia. As afootballer, he played forCambridge University,the Corinthians and three times forEngland, againstScotland andWales.
The son of The Reverend Alfred H. Gay, he was born atBrighton in March 1871.[2] The family were well-off and well-connected; at the time of Gay's birth, the family had six servants, while he countedSir Kingsmill Key, 4th Baronet as a cousin, who was himself afirst-class cricketer forSurrey.[1] The family later moved toPlaitford, which was at the time was part ofWiltshire, where his father was appointedrector.[3][4] Gay's education was received at a variety ofindependent schools; first atSt Mark's School inWindsor, then Park House inReading.[5] He later attendedMarlborough College in Wiltshire from 1885 to 1887,[2] thenBrighton College until 1889,[6] after which he went up toClare College, Cambridge. He graduated with aBachelor of Arts in 1893.[7]
Prior to his matriculation to Cambridge, Gay played "second-class"county cricket forHampshire (who had lost theirfirst-class status in 1885) beginning in 1888, with his first match against fellow "second-class" countySomerset resulting in a heavy loss.[8] In 1890, Gay received praise for his performance in a match againstSussex (a first-class side); helping Hampshire to a 164-run victory by scoring 63not out in the first innings.[9]
Having matriculated to Cambridge in 1890, Gay found his way into theCambridge team was blocked byGregor MacGregor, the incumbent Cambridgewicket-keeper, who was selected byEngland for two of the threeTest matches that summer, and described as "a wicket-keeper of extraordinary ability" inOxford and Cambridge Cricket.[10] He eventually made his first-class debut for Cambridge against theMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC) atFenner's in 1891.[11] Following MacGregor's graduation in 1891, Gay managed to establish himself in the Cambridge side in 1892 and 1893; in a preview of the 1892 season, the magazineCricket praised Gay's "excellent form as a wicket-keeper for Hampshire",[12] and he captained one of the sides in the Seniors' trial match.[13] He made a further seven first-class appearances for Cambridge in 1892,[11] but missed a couple of matches due to an injury he picked up playing for Hampshire against Sussex.[14] His cricket season with Cambridge culminated with him winning his Blue,[15] appearing inthe University Match againstOxford. Although Oxford won by five wickets, Gay was commended for wicket-keeping which was "one of the very best features of the match" and "quite up to the best standard of amateur cricket" according toCricket.[16] After several more prestigious players had turned down invitations to play for the Gentlmen in the 1892Gentlemen v Players fixture atThe Oval, Gay accepted an invitation to play for the team. He also played a late season match for theWest of England against theEast inPortsmouth.[17][11]
In his final season at Cambridge, he made nine first-class appearances, which included a second appearance in The University Match.[15] He made additional first-class appearances in 1893 for theSouth of England against the touringAustralians at The Oval, and for aCambridge University Past and Present team against the same opposition atPortsmouth.[11] From 1891 to 1893, he made seventeen appearances for Cambridge, scoring 428 runs at anaverage of 18.60; he made two half centuries, with a highest score of 60not out.[18]
After graduating from Cambridge, he played four matches forSomerset in the1894 County Championship, in addition to playing twice for the South in theNorth v South fixtures and for the MCC againstYorkshire at theScarborough Festival.[11] He did enough in these matches to be selected to tour Australia withAndrew Stoddart's team for the1894–95 Ashes Series.[15] He played three first-class matches at the start of the tour againstSouth Australia,Victoria andNew South Wales,[11] before being selected for theEngland team to play in the FirstTest againstAustralia atMelbourne.[19] In England's first innings, he scored 33 batting fromnumber ten before being dismissed byJack Reedman, whilefollowing-on in their second innings he was dismissed for 4 runs byHarry Trott. Behind the stumps he made four dismissals (three catches and onestumping), with England winning the Test by 10 runs.[20] Gay was replaced for the remaining four Test matches byHylton Philipson.[21] He featured in two further first-class matches on the tour, against Victoria and South Australia.[11] He was the first Somerset cricketer to play Test cricket for England.[22]
Following the tour of Australia, Gay opted to stay inBritish Ceylon to work as a coffee planter,[1] where he would remain until 1898, when he returned to England to marry Marguerite Dora Becke.[23] He resumed his first-class career in 1900, playing for the MCC againstLeicestershire atLord's, in addition to also playing nine first-class matches forHampshire inthat season's County Championship.[11] Shortly thereafter, he emigrated to Canada, where he was a rancher inAlberta.[1] He had returned to England by 1904, where he made a final first-class appearance at Lord's for the MCC againstLondon County.[11] In first-class cricket, Gay made 46 appearances and scored 1,005 runs at anaverage of 15.46. As a wicket-keeper, he took 70 catches and made 20 stumpings.[24]
As a schoolboy, Gay initially playedfootball as acentre-forward, but after an injury which prevented him from playing for a few years he returned as afull-back. It was playing this position that he won theSussex Senior Challenge Cup in 1888–89 with Brighton College. After going up to Cambridge University, he initially tried for the university team as a defender, but could not secure a place. Instead, he dedicated himself to developing his skills as agoalkeeper, a position he had dallied with as a youngster.[25]
His training paid off, as in 1891, he was selected to play as goalkeeper for England in a match against the touringCanadians. Though it was not an 'official' international match,The Times described England's team as being a "strong eleven", and they won 6–1.[26] Gay earned his football Blue in February 1892, when his goalkeeping drew praise fromThe Times during a 5–1 victory forCambridge University overOxford University.[27] After his graduation from university, he played for Old Brightonians andCorinthian F.C.[25] After a strong performance in the Amateurs against Professionals trial match,[28] he was selected to play versusScotland in the1892–93 British Home Championship,[29] which England won 5–2.[30] He featured in goal for England again the following year, playing in a 5–1 win againstWales in March,[31] followed by a 2–2 draw with Scotland in April.[32]
After returning from Ceylon, Gay joinedSouthampton in 1900 as reserve to fellow England goalkeeper,Jack Robinson, although he never played for the first team.[33]
Gay served in theFirst World War, being commissioned as alieutenant in theTerritorial Force.[34] He was promoted tocaptain with theSouth Lancashire Regiment in September 1915,[35] befofe being made anadjutant in March 1916.[36] He relinquished this appointment in September of the same year,[37] and was seconded to thestaff the following month.[38] He relinquished his appointment to the staff in July 1918,[39] having been made a temporarymajor in June 1918 for his appointment to assistant commandant with theRoyal Defence Corps.[40][41] Following the end of the war, Gay relinquished his commission in September 1919 but retained the rank of captain.[42]
Gay was a keengolfer, having been secretary of the Northamptonshire Golf Club and later the East Devon Golf Club, with him representing Devon in the sport. Having split from his wife, he opted to live a "hedonistic" lifestyle; playing golf and cricket, and sharing the home of a wealthy young widower in east Devon. After the widowers' death he remained in the area,[43] later dying in a nursing home atSidmouth in November 1949.[44] He was survived by his sister,Charlotte Evelyn Gay, who was a social reformer.
