George Leer
Encyclopedia
George Leer was a famous English cricket
er who played for Hampshire
in the time of the Hambledon Club
.
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
, 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. In John Nyren
’s book, he is stated to have been a native of Hambledon, but latterly he was a brewer, residing at Petersfield, where he died".
George Leer was a small man who made 44 known first-class appearances from the 1772 season
to 1782.
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er who played for Hampshire
Hampshire county cricket teams
Hampshire county cricket teams have been traced back to the 18th century but the county's involvement in cricket goes back much further than that...
in the time of the Hambledon Club
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:...
.
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
Arthur Haygarth was a noted amateur cricketer who became one of cricket's most significant historians....
, Leer "was a good and successful bat, but was mostly famous as long-stop to Thomas Brett
Thomas Brett
Thomas Brett was one of first-class cricket's earliest well-known fast bowlers and a leading player for Hampshire when its team was organised by the Hambledon Club in the 1770s.-Career:Noted for his pace and his accuracy, Brett was a leading wicket taker in the 1770s and was lauded by John...
’s tremendous bowling in the Hambledon matches. He was always called "Little George", and was a fine singer, having a sweet counter-tenor voice. In John Nyren
John Nyren
John Nyren was an English cricketer and author. Nyren made 16 known appearances in first-class cricket from 1787 to 1817...
’s book, he is stated to have been a native of Hambledon, but latterly he was a brewer, residing at Petersfield, where he died".
George Leer was a small man who made 44 known first-class appearances from the 1772 season
1772 English cricket season
The 1772 English cricket season was notable in English cricket history because it is from then that surviving scorecards are common. There are three scorecards from 1772, all recording matches that were organised by the Hambledon Club...
to 1782.
External sources
Further reading
- Ashley MoteAshley MoteAshley Mote was a non-inscrit Member of the European Parliament for South East England. An outspoken critic of fraud in the European Institutions, he himself was convicted of benefit fraud in 2007 for which he served a nine-month prison sentence and was described by the trial judge as "a truly...
, The Glory Days of Cricket, Robson, 1997 - David UnderdownDavid UnderdownDavid E. Underdown was a historian of 17th-century English politics and culture and Professor Emeritus at Yale University. Born at Wells, Somerset, Underdown was educated at the Blue School and Exeter College, Oxford...
, Start of Play, Allen Lane, 2000