Les Groves

Les Groves
Born(1911-06-09)9 June 1911
Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand
Died4 September 1990(1990-09-04) (aged 79)
Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand
Cricket career
Cricket information
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm leg break
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1929/30–1949/50Otago
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 16
Runs scored 297
Batting average 11.42
100s/50s 0/0
Top score 35
Balls bowled 2,231
Wickets 31
Bowling average 42.09
5 wickets in innings 1
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 6/88
Catches/stumpings 8/–
Source: Cricinfo, 30 October 2026
Association football career
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Invercargill HSOB
International career
1933 New Zealand 2 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

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.

Groves was born at Dunedin in 1911 and educated there at Otago Boys' High School. He worked as a manager.

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, the first a 2–4 loss on 5 June 1933, his second another 2–4 loss on 24 June.

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.

Groves served with the New Zealand Army in Italy in the Second World War as a private. Following his death in 1990 obituaries were published in the 1991 New Zealand Cricket Almanack and the 1991 Wisden.

References

  1. ↑ "Leslie Groves". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  2. 1 2 McCarron, Tony (2010). New Zealand Cricketers 1863/64–2010, p. 60. Cardiff: The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. ISBN 978 1 905138 98 2
  3. ↑ "New Zealand International Matches 1904-2006". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 15 February 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
  4. ↑ "A-International Lineups". The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
  5. ↑ "Otago v Fiji 1947-48". CricketArchive. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  6. ↑ "Leslie Joseph Groves". Online Cenotaph. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  7. ↑ "Les. Groves 'Not Out'". Evening Star: 3. 23 May 1945.