General Leslie Oswald Sheridan
Poidevin sr
Male
Australia
1876-11-05
Merrilla, New South Wales, Australia
1931-11-19
Waverley, England


About

From the Australian Dictionary of Biography:
https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/poidevin-leslie-oswald-sheridan-8070

By James Prior

Leslie Oswald Sheridan Poidevin (1876-1931), cricketer, tennis player and medical practitioner, was born on 5 November 1876 at Merrilla, New South Wales, only child of Napoleon Richard Poidevin, schoolteacher, and his wife Emma, née Crowther, both born at Collector, near Goulburn. After attending various public schools, he was a pupil-teacher at Burraga (1889-90) and Camperdown (1892).

Holding a half-scholarship at Fort Street Training School from December 1893, he began an arts degree at the University of Sydney and taught at Glebe and Redfern Superior Public schools (1895), Fort Street Model School (1896-97) and Glebe (1898). Returning to the university, he graduated B.A. in 1900, then passed first-year medicine.

From his earliest years, Poidevin showed ability in cricket and tennis. He invented the ‘Poidevin grip’ by which forehands and backhands were played with the same side of the racquet. As a teacher he had almost daily opportunities to instruct youngsters in both games. He played cricket for Glebe and in 1895-96 toured New Zealand with the New South Wales side, heading the batting averages.

In his first Sheffield Shield game in January 1901 against South Australia, Poidevin made 140 not out, taking the score to 918. Against A. C. MacLaren's English team he made 151 not out. He also played competition tennis, winning the Sydney University singles championship in 1899 and the Queensland men’s singles title in 1899 and 1900.

In 1902 Poidevin went to England to continue his medical studies at the Victoria University of Manchester and qualified as a licentiate of the Royal colleges of Physicians and Surgeons, Edinburgh, and of the Royal Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow, in 1908. Meanwhile he was reserve with the 1902 Australian Test team, and was also signed to the London County Cricket Club by its colourful captain and secretary Dr William Gilbert Grace. In the 1903 season Poidevin headed the batting aggregate and averages. He twice played for the Gentlemen against the Players at Lord’s.

In his first year in county cricket Poidevin, playing for Lancashire, made over 1200 runs. Next year he scored three centuries and by 1905 was acknowledged as a first-rank batsman, his aggregate reaching almost 1500. He had a strong defence on all kinds of wickets and was described as an all-round, resourceful hitter. He continued to play competition tennis, winning many European trophies including the Swiss open singles championship (1906) and the European championship doubles with Harold Parker (1909), and represented Australasia with Anthony Wilding in the 1906 Davis Cup, narrowly losing to the United States of America.

Visiting Sydney in 1909 Poidevin married Isabel Marianne Barns on 23 February at St Philip's Church. Returning in 1911, he registered on 8 February and practised at Cremorne, later moving to Bondi. In 1915 he was appointed medical officer in the Department of Public Instruction. He resumed playing cricket for New South Wales and captained Waverley Cricket Club, leading the side to victory for three successive years in 1920-23.

He was a State selector and, after retiring as a player, continued to coach and lecture. The Poidevin-Gray Shield Competition, which he established in 1926 with a close friend and admirer F.P.J. Gray, continues to encourage young players. His interests extended to rowing and he later won sundry golfing trophies.

Poidevin supported himself in Britain by writing articles on sport for the Manchester Guardian, The Times and other journals. He contributed to many anthologies and books on cricket, in Australia wrote reports for the Sydney Morning Herald, the Sydney Mail and the Referee, and established a short-lived sports magazine. His simple and direct style led (Dame) Mary Gilmore to describe his cricket reports as ‘literature’.

Of medium height, Poidevin possessed a quiet confidence and authority that commanded respect. Survived by his wife, son and daughter, he died after a brief illness on 19 November 1931 at his Waverley home and was buried with Anglican rites in South Head cemetery.



Media


Archive statistics 1898 - 1920
13
144
101


Tournament wins 1909 - East Yorkshire Championships (Amateur)
1908 - Dawlish (Amateur)
1908 - Craigside (Amateur)
1908 - Teignmouth and Shaldon (Amateur)
1907 - Carlisle (Amateur)
1906 - Lausanne Autumn Meeting (Amateur)
1906 - Luzern (Amateur)
1906 - Château-d'Œx (Amateur)
1905 - Luzern (Amateur)
1905 - Château-d'Œx (Amateur)
1905 - Les Avants (Amateur)
1900 - Queensland Championships (Amateur)
1899 - Queensland Championships (Amateur)


Tournaments Queensland Championships - 1920 Wimbledon - 1910 Northumberland Championships - 1910 Exmouth - 1910 Wimbledon Plate (Consolation) - 1910 East of England Championships - 1910 West Herts Championships - 1910 Middlesex Championships - 1910 Wimbledon - 1909 Geneva International Championship - 1909 Swiss International Championships - 1909 Gipsy - 1909 Homburg Cup - 1909 Château-d'Œx - 1909 Cinque Ports Championships - 1909 Les Avants - 1909 Wimbledon Plate (Consolation) - 1909 Teignmouth and Shaldon - 1909 West Herts Championships - 1909 Craigside - 1909 Redhill - 1909 Berkshire Championships - 1909 East Yorkshire Championships - 1909 Bedford - 1909 Olympics Indoor - 1908 Teignmouth and Shaldon - 1908 Sheffield - 1908 Craigside - 1908 Carlisle - 1908 Torquay - 1908 Dawlish - 1908 Skegness - 1908 Le Touquet - 1907 Les Avants - 1907 British Covered Court Championships - 1907 Carlisle - 1907 Swiss International Championships - 1906 Château-d'Œx - 1906 Luzern - 1906 Davis Cup - Final - 1906 Lausanne Autumn Meeting - 1906 Durham County Championships - 1906 Château-d'Œx - 1905 Luzern - 1905 Les Avants - 1905 Bournemouth - 1902 New South Wales Championships - 1901 New South Wales Championships - 1900 Queensland Championships - 1900 Metropolitan Grass Court Championships of Sydney - 1900 New South Wales Championships - 1899 Queensland Championships - 1899 Metropolitan Grass Court Championships of Sydney - 1899 Queensland Championships - 1898

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