Cyril Legh Winser (27 November 1884 — 20 December 1983) was an Anglo–Australian

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,

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

er, colonial secretary and orchardist. Born in England, Winser briefly played

minor counties cricket The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

for

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, before emigrating to Australia, where he played

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams representing the six states of Australia. The Sheffield Shield is named after Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield, Lor ...

cricket for

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. He also excelled as an amateur golfer, winning several tournaments in Australia, and was the secretary to the

Governor of South Australia The governor of South Australia is the representative in South Australia of the monarch, currently King Charles III. The governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the governor-general of Aust ...

Early life in England

Born at High Legh,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, Winser was educated at Oundle School. He made his debut in

for

against the Lancashire Second XI in the 1906

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship or National County Championship is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national counties (previously ca ...

, playing a total of 21 Minor Counties Championship matches from 1906 to 1909. He was a part of the Staffordshire team which won the Minor Counties Championship in 1908. In his capacity as

wicket-keeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the Cricket player, player on the fielding (cricket), fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop Delivery (cricket), deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a Caught, catch, Stumped, stump the ...

, Winser would have kept wicket to one of the best bowlers in the world at the time,

Sydney Barnes Sydney Francis Barnes (19 April 1873 – 26 December 1967) was an English professional cricketer who is regarded as one of the greatest bowlers of all time. He was right-handed and bowled at a pace that varied from medium to fast-medium with ...

, who played much of his domestic career at minor counties level.

Move to Australia

Winser emigrated to Australia in 1909, becoming an orchardist at Blackwood, South Australia. He soon began playing cricket for

, making his debut 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 ...

in the 1913/14

against

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. He played in three Shield matches that season and was a strong candidate to be a part of the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

team to tour South Africa, which was cancelled due to the onset of World War I. He became the Private Secretary to Sir Henry Galway, the

, in 1915. He would serve in his capacity as Private Secretary to a succession of governors. He made his final appearances in first-class cricket in 1920, playing two matches for South Australia in the 1920–21 Sheffield Shield. He was the Australian Amateur golf champion in 1921. By the time of the infamous bodyline tour of 1932-33, Wisner was serving as the Private Secretary to Alexander Hore-Ruthven, who was in England at the time. Following the third Test match at Adelaide and the controversy that arose from it, Winser arranged for an urgent cable to be sent to Hore-Ruthven in England, urging him to make contact with the

Dominions Office The position of secretary of state for dominion affairs was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for British relations with the Empire’s dominions – Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Newfoundl ...

in order to avoid a full-scale diplomatic incident. He later retired to Barwon Heads, Victoria, where he died on 20 December 1983. At the time of his death he was the oldest living Sheffield Shield cricketer.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Winser, Legh 1884 births 1983 deaths People from the Borough of Cheshire East People educated at Oundle School English emigrants to Australia English cricketers Australian cricketers Staffordshire cricketers South Australia cricketers English male golfers Australian male golfers Amateur golfers Members of the Royal Victorian Order Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Cricketers from Cheshire 20th-century Australian sportsmen