Leonard Oakley (11 January 1916 – 9 January 1974) was an English cricketer who played eight first-class games for

Worcestershire County Cricket Club Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Worcestershire. Its Vitality Blast T20 team has been rebranded ...

either side of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. A bowler, in 14 innings he never scored more than 11 runs. Oakley made his debut for Worcestershire against

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

in late June 1935, taking the single wicket of Fred Price and scoring 6 and 0 from number ten. He played against

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

a few days later, taking one more wicket, and made two wicketless appearances in 1937, but those games comprised his entire remaining pre- war career. He returned to first-class action with a bang in June 1946, taking eight wickets against the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

in what was to prove the RAF's last first-class match. His first innings 2-18 and second-innings 6-64, which contributed largely towards his county's victory, were the only times he ever took more than two wickets in a first-class innings. However, two subsequent

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

games brought Oakley only one wicket in total, and he played no more for two years. In June 1948, Oakley took 5–44 in each innings of a Second XI match against

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

II, and was recalled to the first team for the Championship match with

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

a week later. However, he could manage only 1-71 from 17 overs, and he never played first-class cricket again.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oakley, Leonard 1916 births 1974 deaths English cricketers Worcestershire cricketers Sportspeople from Stourbridge Cricketers from Worcestershire