{{short description|New Zealand cricketer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=May 2016}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = Les Milnes | image = | country = New Zealand | fullname = Leslie Albert Milnes | birth_date = {{birth date|1922|7|3|df=yes}} | birth_place = Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand | death_date = {{death date and age|2013|3|20|1922|7|3|df=yes}} | death_place = Motueka, Tasman, New Zealand | family = Glenn Milnes (grandson) | batting = Right-handed | bowling = | role = | club1 = Otago | year1 = {{nowrap|1944/45–1948/49}} | date = 2 April | year = 2021 | source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/37932.html Cricinfo }}

'''Leslie Albert Milnes''' (3 July 1922 &ndash; 20 March 2013) was a New Zealand cricketer. He played nine first-class matches between the 1942–43 and 1948–49.<ref name=ci>[http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/37932.html Les Milnes], CricInfo. Retrieved 17 May 2016.</ref><ref name=ca>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/22/22497/22497.html Les Milnes], CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 May 2016. {{subscription required}}</ref>

Milnes was born at Dunedin in 1922 and was educated at Otago Boys' High School and King's High School in the city.<ref name=mc>McCarron A (2010) ''New Zealand Cricketers 1863/64–2010'', p. 93. Cardiff: The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. {{isbn|978 1 905138 98 2}} ([https://archive.acscricket.com/cricketers_series/new_zealand_cricketers_1863-64_2010/index.html Available online] at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 5 June 2023.)</ref> He played cricket at school and led King's batting averages in 1937–38.<ref>King's High School, ''Otago Daily Times'', issue 23377, 17 December 1937, p. 15. ([https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT19371217.2.139 Available online] at Papers Past. Retrieved 25 November 2023.)</ref>

During World War II Milnes served in the New Zealand Army. He played wartime cricket for army sides and made his first-class debut for a South Island Army side against a similar side from the North Island at the Basin Reserve in February 1943. He made scores of 41 and six in the match before going on to play for an army side against one from the New ZealandAir Force later in the year. He had played some wartime cricket for Otago sides during the 1942–43 season, and played the first of seven first-class matches for the province in December 1944. Primarily a right-handed batsman, in his nine first-class matches, Milnes scored 354 runs and took two wickets. He later played Hawke Cup cricket for Nelson between 1954–55 and 1957–58.<ref name=ca/>

Professionally Milnes worked as an accountant.<ref name=mc/> He died at Motueka in the Tasman Region in 2013 aged 90.<ref name=ca/> His grandson Glenn Milnes played six first-class and 21 List A matches for Central Districts during the 1990s as well as playing Hawke Cup cricket for Nelson.<ref>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/9/9888/9888.html Glenn Milnes], CricketArchive. Retrieved 25 November 2023. {{subscription required}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{ESPNcricinfo|id=37932}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Milnes, Leslie}} Category:1922 births Category:2013 deaths Category:New Zealand cricketers Category:Otago cricketers Category:Cricketers from Dunedin Category:New Zealand Army cricketers Category:South Island Army cricketers Category:People educated at Otago Boys' High School Category:People educated at King's High School, Dunedin Category:20th-century New Zealand sportsmen

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