Leslie Wilson

Leslie Wilson (16 March 1859 – 15 April 1944) was an English stockbroker and cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club between 1883 and 1897. Wilson played in over 100 first-class matches for Kent and scored over 3,000 runs for the county.

Early life Wilson was born at Canonbury in London in 1859, the third son of stockbroker Alexander Wilson and his wife Caroline (née Pitman). The family moved from Islington to Beckenham in Kent in 1873 and Wilson, like two of his brothers, was educated at Tonbridge School.

Cricket A batsman who Scores and Biographies described as having "good style and judgement", Wilson made his first-class cricket debut for Kent in a May 1883 fixture against Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Lord's, scoring 32 runs in the only innings in which Kent batted. He played in another seven matches during his first season of top-level cricket, scoring a half-century against Middlesex, but was unable to play frequently in 1884 or 1885 due to his business commitments. This limited his opportunities to play county cricket, although he was able to take time from work more regularly after 1887―he played in at least seven first-class matches each season between then and 1894, making 15 appearances in 1890 and 1893 and 14 in 1894. He made 18 half-centuries and scored his only first-class century in 1889, a score of 132 against Gloucestershire during that season's Canterbury Cricket Week After the 1894 season he played only three more first-class fixtures, two in 1895 and a final match in 1897.

Wilson played club cricket, scoring double centuries for Beckenham―including a score of 246 not out made in an opening partnership of 470 runs with WG Wyld in 1885 ―and at least four centuries for Band of Brothers, an amateur club closely associated with the Kent county club. An obituary in The Times, however, described him as "a sound defensive batsman" who could "hit well when set".

Later life and family Wilson married Ida Eshall at Esher in 1886. The couple had two children and lived at Norbiton for most of their married life. Ida died in 1935 and later in life Wilson lived at Rye in Sussex. He died at nearby Hastings in 1944 aged 85.