Lesley Clifford played nine Test matches for England while her brief ODI career was in the inaugural cricket World Cup.
Born on 19th 1937 in Leeds, Yorkshire, former Test and ODI player for England, Lesley Jill Clifford (nee Baldwin) began her career with Yorkshire in 1965. It wasn’t long after that Lesley was selected for England in Rachael Heyhoe’s team against the visiting New Zealanders in 1966. Her primary weapon was her slow left arm bowling but through the course of her career displayed good skills in the lower order with the bat.
The highlight of her Test bowling career came on January 25th 1969 at North Sydney Oval in the third Test against Australia. Lesley took 5-51 from 20 overs. In the nine Test matches she played, Lesley scored 183 runs at 30.50 with a best of 42. She took 14 wickets 35.07 with that single five wicket haul.
Lesley’s entire ODI career was at the inaugural World Cup of 1973 where she and the England team tasted victory being the first winners of the trophy. Her best wicket haul was 3-19 which was the total of her wickets tally, but she was a scrooge, just allowing 2.03 runs per over to be scored. Lesley Clifford passed away in Johannesburg, South Africa in May 1979 at the age of 42.