George Leer (1748 at

Hambledon, Hampshire Hambledon is a small village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the county of Hampshire in England, situated about north of Portsmouth within the South Downs National Park. Hambledon is best known as the 'Cradle of Cricket'. It is ...

– 1 February 1812 at

Petersfield, Hampshire Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth a ...

) was a famous English

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who played for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

in the time of the

Hambledon Club The Hambledon Club was a social club that is famous for its organisation of 18th century cricket matches. By the late 1770s it was the foremost cricket club in England. Foundation The origin of the club, based near Hambledon in rural Hampshire, ...

. Leer began playing in the 1760s. His name has become almost synonymous with the now archaic long stop fielding position (i.e., directly behind the wicket-keeper) that was deemed so necessary in underarm days. According to

Arthur Haygarth Arthur Haygarth (4 August 1825 – 1 May 1903) was a noted amateur cricketer who became one of cricket's most significant historians. He played first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club and Sussex between 1844 and 1861, as well as num ...

, Leer "was a good and successful bat, but was mostly famous as long-stop to Thomas Brett’s tremendous bowling in the Hambledon matches. He was always called "Little George", and was a fine singer, having a sweet counter-tenor voice.

, ''Scores & Biographies'', Volume 1 (1744-1826), Lillywhite, 1862 In

John Nyren John Nyren (15 December 1764 – 30 June 1837) was an English cricketer and author. Nyren made 16 known appearances in first-class cricket from 1787 to 1817. He achieved lasting fame as the author of '' The Cricketers of My Time'', which was fir ...

’s book, he is stated to have been a native of Hambledon, but latterly he was a brewer, residing at Petersfield, where he died".

Ashley Mote Ashley Mote (25 January 1936 – 30 March 2020) was a former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 2004 to 2009. Elected representing the UK Independence Party, he became a non-inscrit one month into his term after ...

, ''John Nyren's "The Cricketers of my Time"'', Robson, 1998 George Leer was a small man who made 44 known first-class appearances from the 1772 season to 1782.

References

Further reading