Leslie Harris was the elder brother of Ernie Harris, and in 1947 he emulated Ernie by playing in three matches for Glamorgan. The all-rounder however was perhaps better known as the founder father of the Primary Club and helping to raise millions of pounds for good causes including blind cricket.

The talented swing bowler, who worked for the Great Western Railway, agreed to assist the Welsh county during 1947 following the retirement of Austin Matthews and Peter Judge. He duly made his first-class debut during late June 1947 at Derby – the first of three away games in which the amateur appeared and followed during July by appearances against Northants at Kettering and Essex at Westcliff-on-Sea. He claimed three wickets on debut, largely with his in-swingers but did little of note in his subsequent games.

He subsequently played for the county’s 2nd XI before moving to Kent during the early 1950s and joined Beckenham CC for whom he played for many years and, as the image above shows, proudly wearing his Glamorgan sweater. He created the Primary Club during 1955 and a measure of it’s success can be gauged by the fact that by the time of Leslie’s death during 1985, the Primary Club had over 9,000 members worldwide and annually raised  over a million pounds for good causes.

HARRIS, Leslie John  

Born – Cardiff, 20^th July 1915.    

Died – Beckenham, 28^th October 1985.

Best performances for Glamorgan:

In first-class cricket – 5 and 3/39 v Derbyshire at Derby, 1947.

	M	I	NO	RUNS	AV	100	50	CT	ST
First-class	3	4	2	7	3.50	–	–	1	–

	Balls	M	R	W	AV	5wI	10wM
First-class	51	7	183	5	36.60	–	–