William Robert Ronald Leach (3 April 1883 – 1 November 1969) was an English first-class

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er and

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

officer. The son of Major-General

Edmund Leach Sir Edmund Ronald Leach FRAI FBA (7 November 1910 – 6 January 1989) was a British social anthropologist and academic. He served as provost of King's College, Cambridge from 1966 to 1979. He was also president of the Royal Anthropolo ...

and Frances Elizabeth Ince, he was born at

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

in April 1883. He was commissioned as a sub-lieutenant in the

in September 1902, with promotion to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

following in April 1905. Leach later made a single appearance in

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

for the

against the

British Army cricket team The Army cricket team is a cricket team representing the British Army. The Army team played 51 first-class matches between 1912 and 1939, although a combined Army and Navy team had played two games against a combined Oxford and Cambridge team ...

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

in 1913. He took 3 wickets in the Army first-innings, dismissing Douglas Robinson, Arthur Turner and Francis Wilson to finish with figures of 3 for 61. He was dismissed by Francis Wyatt in both the Royal Navy innings', with the Army winning the match by 10 wickets. After serving in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he was placed on the retired list at his own request in December 1919, at which point he held the rank of lieutenant commander. Although retired, he was made a

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

in April 1923. Leach died at

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

in November 1969. His brother

Henry Leach Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Conyers Leach, (18 November 1923 – 26 April 2011) was a Royal Navy officer who, as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff during the early 1980s, was instrumental in convincing the British prime minister Ma ...

was a Brigadier-General in the army.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leach, William 1883 births 1969 deaths Cricketers from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea People from Kensington Royal Navy officers English cricketers Royal Navy cricketers Royal Navy officers of World War I Leach family Military personnel from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea 20th-century English sportsmen