View source for Les Ames

{{Short description|English cricketer (1905–1990)}}
{{For|the Australian footballer|Les Ames (footballer)}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox cricketer
|                name = Les Ames
|               image = Les Ames c1930.jpg
|             caption = Ames in about 1930
|             country = England
|            fullname = Leslie Ethelbert George Ames
|          birth_date = {{Birth date|1905|12|3|df=y}}
|         birth_place = [[Elham, Kent]], England
|          death_date = {{Death date and age|1990|2|27|1905|12|3|df=y}}
|         death_place = [[Canterbury]], [[Kent]], England
|             batting = Right-handed
|             bowling = Legbreak
|                role = [[Wicket-keeper]]
|       international = true
|       testdebutdate = 17 August
|       testdebutyear = 1929
|    testdebutagainst = South Africa
|             testcap = 244
|        lasttestdate = 3 March
|        lasttestyear = 1939
|     lasttestagainst = South Africa
|               club1 = [[Kent County Cricket Club|Kent]]
|               year1 = 1926–1951          
|             columns = 2
|             column1 = [[Test cricket|Test]]
|            matches1 = 47
|               runs1 = 2,434
|            bat avg1 = 40.56
|           100s/50s1 = 8/7
|          top score1 = 149
|         deliveries1 = –
|            wickets1 = –
|           bowl avg1 = –
|            fivefor1 = –
|             tenfor1 = –
|       best bowling1 = –
|  catches/stumpings1 = 74/23
|             column2 = [[First-class cricket|First-class]]
|            matches2 = 593
|               runs2 = 37,248
|            bat avg2 = 43.51
|           100s/50s2 = 102/176
|          top score2 = 295
|         deliveries2 = 1,383
|            wickets2 = 24
|           bowl avg2 = 33.37
|            fivefor2 = 0
|             tenfor2 = 0
|       best bowling2 = 3/23
|  catches/stumpings2 = 703/418
|                date = 11 June
|                year = 2012
|              source = http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/england/content/player/8532.html CricInfo
}}
'''Leslie Ethelbert George Ames''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE}} (3 December 1905 – 27 February 1990) was an English [[cricket]]er and footballer. He was a [[wicket-keeper]] and [[batsman]] for the [[England cricket team]] and [[Kent County Cricket Club]]. 

Born at [[Elham, Kent]], Ames began his [[first-class cricket|first-class]] career with his home county of [[Kent County Cricket Club|Kent]] in 1926, and was a regular player until the 1950s. Ames played 45 tests for England, and was part of the England squad that won [[The Ashes|the ashes]] in the infamous [[bodyline]] series of [[English cricket team in Australia in 1932–33|1932–33]]. In his obituary, ''[[Wisden]]'' described him as the greatest [[wicket-keeper-batsman]] of all time. He is [[List of batsmen who have scored 100 centuries in first-class cricket|the only wicket-keeper-batsman to score a hundred first-class centuries]], and was a [[Wisden Cricketers of the Year|Wisden cricketer of the year]] in [[1928 English cricket season|1928]].

==Early career==
Born in [[Elham, Kent]], in 1905, he was mentored by [[Francis MacKinnon]], an ex-county player who lived in the village and then, after leaving the [[Harvey Grammar School]],<ref name=OHA>{{cite web |url = https://oldharveians.org.uk/page/11/?s |title = From Phil Harding |date= 17 February 2015|publisher = Old Harveians Association |access-date = 16 January 2021 }}</ref> [[Folkestone]], by [[Gerry 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.<ref>Close of Play by Les Ames – Published in 1953 by Stanley Paul</ref>

He received the call to play for Kent while playing in [[West Malling]] and made his debut for the county on 7 July 1926 against [[Warwickshire County Cricket Club|Warwickshire]] at the [[Nevill Ground]] in [[Royal Tunbridge Wells]]. He scored 35 and took four catches, despite not playing as a wicket-keeper in the match. He played one more [[County Championship]] match that season before becoming a regular in the [[1927 English cricket season|1927 season]].<ref>''Cricketer of my time – Heroes to Remember'' by E W Swanton {{ISBN|0-233-99940-X}}</ref>

He went on the [[English cricket team in Australia in 1928–29|1928–29 England tour of Australia]], but only played in state matches. He made his debut for England in the Fifth Test against [[South African cricket team in England in 1929|South Africa]] at [[The Oval]] on 17 August 1929, making a duck and taking two catches.<ref>Kent Cricket Archive – cricketarchive.com/Kent/index.html</ref> His cap number for England is 244.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/caps.html?country=1;class=1 |title=England Players – Test Caps |publisher=[[ESPNCricinfo]]}}</ref>

==Cricket career==
In [[Test cricket]], Ames played 47 matches, scoring 2,434 runs with a [[batting average (cricket)|batting average]] of 40.56. He took 74 [[Cricket statistics|catches]] and made 23 [[Stumped|stumpings]]. 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 also [[bowling (cricket)|bowled]] over 200 [[over (cricket)|overs]], taking 24 first-class [[wicket]]s with a [[bowling average]] of 33.37.

Ames was one of the [[Wisden Cricketers of the Year]] in 1929. He holds a number of wicket-keeping and batting records: 
*the most dismissals in an English [[county cricket]] season (127 in 1929);
*the most stumpings in an English season (64 in 1932);
*1000 runs and 100 dismissals in each of three seasons (1928, 1929, 1932), a feat that has only been achieved once again in county cricket;
*the only wicket-keeper to score 100 first-class centuries;
*in 1934 he was the last Englishman to score 100 or more runs before lunch in a Test match until [[Ian Bell]] did so seventy years later. Ames scored 120 runs in the session which is a record for most runs before lunch in Test cricket;
*centuries against every English first-class county, apart from his own county, Kent;
*the record 8th wicket partnership for England in Test cricket: 246 with [[Gubby Allen]] against [[New Zealand cricket team|New Zealand]] at [[Lord's]] in 1931. This record was finally broken by [[Jonathan Trott]] and [[Stuart Broad]] in 2010 when they scored 332 runs;
*the first wicket-keeper to score a century batting at number seven in Test Cricket.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thecricketmonthly.com/story/908301/the-magnificent-seven |title=The magnificent seven |access-date=22 March 2016 |publisher=ESPNcricinfo}}</ref>

After his final playing season in 1951, Ames became a successful manager and administrator. He managed MCC tours to the [[West Indies]] in 1967/68 when he deemed in his post-tour report that [[Basil 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.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Cricket and society in South Africa, 1910-1971 : from union to isolation|others=Murray, Bruce K., Parry, Richard, 1956-, Winch, Jonty.|date=September 2018 |isbn=978-3-319-93608-6|location=Cham, Switzerland|oclc=1050448400}}</ref> When that tour was cancelled he managed the subsequent replacement visit to  [[Sri Lanka]] and Pakistan in 1968/69. In 1950 he had been the first professional to be appointed as a Test selector,<ref>[[David Frith]], ''Bodyline Autopsy'', ABC Books, Sydney, 2002, p. 435.</ref> 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 the [[West Indian cricket team in England in 1957|touring West Indies]] at the [[Hastings Festival]]. The match was billed as L. E. G. Ames' XI v West Indians. Ames' team included [[Denis Compton]], [[Colin Cowdrey]], [[Jack Robertson (English cricketer)|Jack Robertson]], [[George Tribe]] and [[John Murray (cricketer, born 1935)|John Murray]]. Cowdrey scored 143 on the first day but West Indies won by 4 wickets.<ref>''Playfair Cricket Annual 1958'', p. 60.</ref><ref>''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1958'', pp. 336–337</ref><ref>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/22/22689.html match scorecard]. ''CricketArchive''. Retrieved 30 December 2022.</ref><ref>[http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1950S/1957/WI_IN_ENG/WI_AMES-XI_31AUG-03SEP1957.html match scorecard]. ''ESPN cricinfo''. Retrieved 30 December 2022.</ref>

==Outside cricket==
Ames joined [[association football|football]] club [[Leyton Orient F.C.|Clapton Orient]] in 1926 making his League debut against Preston North End in January 1927 and a total of 14 senior appearances in five seasons,<ref name="Kaufman02">{{cite book |last1=Kaufman |first1=Neilson N |last2=Ravenhill |first2=Alan E |title=The Men Who Made Leyton Orient Football Club |date=2002 |publisher=Tempus Publishing |isbn=0752424122 |pages=15–16}}</ref> before briefly playing for [[Gillingham F.C.|Gillingham]] in 1931, where he made five appearances and scored one goal.<ref>{{cite book |   first=Roger|last= Triggs |   title=The Men Who Made Gillingham Football Club|   publisher=Tempus Publishing Ltd. |   year=2001|   isbn=0-7524-2243-X|pages=10}}</ref> His cricketing career was interrupted by the [[Second World War]], during which Ames served with the [[Royal Air Force]] rising to the rank of [[Squadron Leader]]. He returned to play as a batsman for Kent after the war.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Les Ames}}
*{{cricinfo|id=8532}}
*{{NPG name|id=165396}}

<!-- ATTENTION! He was born in Elham, NOT Eltham. -->

{{Batsmen who have scored 100 first-class centuries}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ames, Leslie}}
[[Category:1905 births]]
[[Category:1990 deaths]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Kent]]
[[Category:People from Elham, Kent]]
[[Category:English cricketers]]
[[Category:English men's footballers]]
[[Category:England Test cricketers]]
[[Category:English cricketers of 1919 to 1945]]
[[Category:20th-century English sportsmen]]
[[Category:Kent cricketers]]
[[Category:Commonwealth XI cricketers]]
[[Category:Gillingham F.C. players]]
[[Category:Leyton Orient F.C. players]]
[[Category:English Football League players]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force squadron leaders]]
[[Category:Wisden Cricketers of the Year]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:England cricket team selectors]]
[[Category:Players cricketers]]
[[Category:Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers]]
[[Category:People educated at The Harvey Grammar School]]
[[Category:Men's association football players not categorized by position]]
[[Category:North v South cricketers]]
[[Category:L. E. G. Ames' XI cricketers]]
[[Category:M. Leyland's XI cricketers]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Wicket-keepers]]
[[Category:Marylebone Cricket Club West Indian Touring Team cricketers]]
[[Category:Marylebone Cricket Club Australian Touring Team cricketers]]
[[Category:Cricketers from Kent]]