Leonard Slater (11 October 1875 − 14 September 1914) was an 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 str ...

er and

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer. He was born in

Instow Instow is a village in north Devon, England. It is on the estuary where the rivers Taw and Torridge meet, between the villages of Westleigh and Yelland and on the opposite bank to Appledore. There is an electoral ward with the same name. Th ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, the son of Rev. Francis Slater and Mrs. Harriet Slater. Slater spent some part of this life in the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

, where he played cricket for

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

and Northern Punjab, at a time when neither team had first-class status. He played for both teams in the 1902/03 season. Returning to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, he played a single Minor Counties Championship match for

against Glamorgan. Five years later, he played his only first-class match when he represented the

Gentlemen of the South A gentleman (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man) is any man of good and courteous conduct. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire and above a yeoman; by definition, the ...

against the Players of the South at the

Central Recreation Ground, Hastings The Central Recreation Ground was a cricket ground in Hastings, East Sussex, used for first-class and List A cricket between 1864 and 1996. The ground was frequently used by Sussex County Cricket Club as one of their outgrounds from 1865; i ...

. In his only first-class match he scored 15 runs. In the Gentlemen's first-innings he scored 15 runs before being bowled by

Albert Relf Albert Edward Relf (26 June 1874 – 26 March 1937) was a professional cricketer who played for Sussex and England. Relf was an all-rounder who batted in the middle order and bowled off-breaks at medium pace with great accuracy. He played Min ...

. In their second-innings he was dismissed for a

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...

by George Dennett. This left him with a first-class

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of 7.50. They had two sons, Leonard Slater born in 1902 in the Punjab and John Slater born in 1909. Leonard Slater would later be known as Admiral Robin Durnford-Slater of the Royal Navy. The younger son

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

would later lead a distinguished military career and would be credited with forming the first Army

commando Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...

unit during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

and who during the course of the war was awarded the

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) The Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) is a military decoration awarded to ...

. Slater later served in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment and held the rank of Captain. On 14 September 1914, he was killed in action during the

First Battle of the Aisne The First Battle of the Aisne (french: 1re Bataille de l'Aisne) was the Allied follow-up offensive against the right wing of the German First Army (led by Alexander von Kluck) and the Second Army (led by Karl von Bülow) as they retreated a ...

. His body was laid to rest at the Vendresse British Cemetery. His name was etched on several memorials following his death, including the War Memorial at Instow and having the south side of nave of St. John the Baptist Church in Instow dedicated to him. His name is also etched on the Godalming War Memorial in Godalming, Surrey.Godalming War Memorial 1914-1918
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References

External links

ESPNcricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a ...

Leonard Slater
at CricketArchive {{DEFAULTSORT:Slater, Leonard 1875 births 1914 deaths Burials in France Military personnel from Devon People from North Devon (district) English cricketers Devon cricketers Gentlemen of the South cricketers Royal Sussex Regiment officers British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in World War I