Les Poidevin

Australian tennis player and cricketer

Les Poidevin

Personal information

Born

(1876-11-05)5 November 1876
Merrilla, New South Wales

Died

19 November 1931(1931-11-19) (aged 55)
Waverley, Australia

Batting

Right-handed

Bowling

Right-arm slow

Domestic team information

Years

Team

1895–1908

Lancashire

Career statistics

Competition	First-class
Matches	149
Runs scored	7022
Batting average	32.96
100s/50s	14/31
Top score	179
Balls bowled	3170
Wickets	46
Bowling average	41.89
5 wickets in innings	2
10 wickets in match	0
Best bowling	8/66
Catches/stumpings	162/0

Source: CricketArchive

Les Poidevin
Singles
Full name	Leslie Oswald Sheridan Poidevin
Country (sports)	Australia
Career record	101–43 (70.1%)^[1]
Career titles	13^[1]
Grand Slam singles results
Wimbledon	2R (1909, 1910)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games	QF (1908^In)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
Wimbledon	SF (1910)
Team competitions
Davis Cup	F (1906)

Leslie Oswald Sheridan Poidevin (5 November 1876 – 19 November 1931) was an Australian tennis player and first-class cricketer who played for New South Wales and Lancashire.

Biography

A right-handed batsman who was strong in defence, Poidevin started his first class cricket career with New South Wales in 1895. In 1901 he contributed an unbeaten 140 out of the team's total of 918 runs which was a record team score at the time. He would only bat in 23 innings for NSW over the course of his career but his average of 57.73 ranks favourably with the finest who have played for the state. In the 1901–02 Ashes series, Poidevin was the twelfth man for the first Test match. He was scheduled to make his Test debut in the second Test match, but suffered a finger injury prior to the game.^[2]

At the turn of the century he came to England to study medicine and began playing cricket for London County. After three seasons with London County he qualified to play for Lancashire and helped them to win the championship in 1904, his debut season with the county. During the season he made 865 runs at 34. He topped Lancashire's averages the following year with 44 after managing a total of 1376 runs.

Poidevin also played international tennis, representing Australasia in the 1906 Davis Cup as well as in Grand Slams (though missing the 1908 Summer Olympics because of administrative bungling).

Poidevin died on 19 November 1931 at Waverley, New South Wales, Australia. His parents were Napoleon R and Emma Poidevin.^[3] He was survived by his wife, Isabel Marianne Poidevin (née Barns), and his two children, Gwen and Les.^[4] He was buried in the South Head Cemetery, Old South Head Road, Vaucluse, New South Wales on Friday, 20 November 1931, following a funeral attended by a large number of cricket and tennis representatives and personal friends.^[5]

Notes

^ ^a ^b "Players:Poidevin Sr, Leslie". The Tennis Base. Madrid: Tennismem SL. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
^ "How many batters have scored four or more centuries in three successive Tests?". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
^ Death Registration #20453/1931 of Leslie O S POIDEVIN, date 19Nov1931, registration district: Waverley, New South Wales, Australia. published by Government of New South Wales, Justice, Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages, online repository https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/lifelink/familyhistory/search Accessed 23Sep2021
^ 1931 'Family Notices', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), 19 November, p. 8. , viewed 23 Sep 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16816371
^ OBITUARY. (23 November 1931). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), p. 13. Retrieved 23 September 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16823758