Leo Bennett

Infobox cricketer biography
playername = Leo Bennett


country = England
fullname = Alfred Charles Leopold Bennett
nickname =
living =
dayofbirth = 31
monthofbirth = 12
yearofbirth = 1914
placeofbirth = West Norwood, London
countryofbirth = England
dayofdeath = 24
monthofdeath = 9
yearofdeath = 1971
placeofdeath = Thames Ditton, Surrey
countryofdeath = England
batting = Right-handed batsman
bowling =
role = Middle order batsman
club1 = Northamptonshire
year1 = 1947-1949
type1 = First-class
debutdate1 = 4 June
debutyear1 = 1947
debutfor1 =
Northamptonshire
debutagainst1 = South Africans
lastdate1 = 19 July
lastyear1 = 1949
lastfor1 = Northamptonshire
lastagainst1 = Essex
deliveries = balls
columns = 1
column1 = First-class
matches1 = 16
runs1 = 586
bat avg1 = 20.20
100s/50s1 = –/3
top score1 = 68
deliveries1 = –
wickets1 = –
bowl avg1 = –
fivefor1 = –
tenfor1 = –
best bowling1 = –
catches/stumpings1 = 8/–
date = 6 September
year = 2008
source = http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/27/27824/27824.html CricketArchiveMajor Alfred Charles Leopold (Leo) Bennett, MBE born at West Norwood in London on December 31, 1914, and died at Thames Ditton, Surrey, on September 24, 1971, was a first-class cricketer who played for Northamptonshire for three seasons after the Second World War.

Bennett was a right-handed middle-order batsman who played for Surrey's second eleven in 1937, and might have played more for Surrey but for an unintended mistake at the start of the 1946 season. According to a published history of the county club, Surrey, casting around for an amateur captain to lead the side in the hastily-arranged first season of first-class cricket after the war, alighted on the name "Major Bennett". The intention appears to have been to offer the job to Leo Bennett, but instead, another club cricketer, Major Nigel Harvie Bennett, who had also played a few second eleven matches pre-war, was asked and he accepted the job. [Cite book | title = "The Surrey Story" | author = Gordon Ross | edition = 1957 | publisher = Stanley Paul] Cite web | url = http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/england/content/player/9679.html | title = Leo Bennett - Cricinfo profile | publisher = Cricinfo | accessdate = 2008-09-06]

Most of Leo Bennett's cricket was at club level, where he was a prominent player over many seasons and a frequent player and captain in the minor warm-up matches for the Club Cricket Conference against touring sides; he was also the captain for the BBC cricket team. During the Second World War, however, Bennett played alongside some bigger cricketing names in matches for, among others, the British Empire XI, although these games were not first-class. [cite web | url = http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/27/27824/Other_matches.html | title = Other Matches played by Leo Bennett |publisher = CricketArchive | accessdate = 2008-09-06]

In 1947 and the following two seasons, he turned out in a total of 16 first-class matches for Northamptonshire, making useful runs in his first and last seasons. [cite web | url = http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/27/27824/f_Batting_by_Season.html | title = First-class Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Leo Bennett | publisher = CricketArchive | accessdate = 2008-09-06] His best match came against Nottinghamshire at Northampton in August 1947, when he scored 56 in the first innings and 68 in the second, his two highest first-class scores. Northamptonshire still lost the match by a large margin. [cite web | url = http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/18/18252.html | title = Northamptonshire v Nottinghamshire |date = 1947-08-20 |publisher = CricketArchive | accessdate = 2008-09-06]

His obituary in Wisden Cricketers' Almanack credits him with a book on club cricket, and he appears to have moved in exalted cricketing circles in his latter life. [Cite book | title = Wisden Cricketers' Almanack | edition = 1972 | publisher = Wisden Cricketers' Almanack | chapter = Obituaries | pages = p1047 ] As late as 1962 and 1963, he was captaining Lord's Taverners teams in less-than-serious matches at Lord's: players who turned out under his captaincy included Keith Miller, David Sheppard and Norman Wisdom. [cite web | url = http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/27/27824/Other_matches.html | title = Other Matches played by Leo Bennett |publisher = CricketArchive | accessdate = 2008-09-06]

References

External links

*cricketarchive|ref=Archive/Players/27/27824/27824.html
*cricinfo|ref=england/content/player/9679.html