13 Facts About Leslie Gooden

Norman Leslie Gooden was an Australian cricketer and missionary.

Leslie Gooden played in two first-class matches for South Australia between 1912 and 1914.

Leslie Gooden attended the Grote Street Church of Christ where he captained the Australian rules football side and led the Bible class.

Early in the innings, Leslie Gooden hooked a ball out of the ground and onto the roof of a passing tram on the way to the city.

Leslie Gooden made his debut for South Australia on 25 October 1912, against Western Australia at the Adelaide Oval, where, batting at number three, he scored 49 and 102.

Leslie Gooden reached his century in 145 minutes, and he and Algy Gehrs added 174 for the third wicket in an hour.

In spite of scoring a century in his maiden first-class match, Leslie Gooden did not represent South Australia again until 16 January 1914, against the touring New Zealanders at the Adelaide Oval, scoring nine and 36 not out.

Leslie Gooden did not play another first-class match, ending his career with a batting average of 65.33.

Leslie Gooden did play one match for South Australian Colts, against Victorian Colts, in Melbourne from 13 February 1914, scoring nine and 130.

Outside of cricket, Leslie Gooden worked for the South Australian Gas Company for many years while heavily involved with the Hindmarsh Baptist Church and the YMCA.

Leslie Gooden was treasurer of the South Australian YMCA Army Depot during the First World War.

Leslie Gooden "always had a leaning towards foreign mission work", and joined the evangelical Poona and Indian Village Mission and in 1920 moved to Nasrapur, India, to work and preach in small villages in the Bombay Presidency.

Leslie Gooden eventually rose to the position of Chairman of the Board of Control of the Poona and Indian Village Mission before relocating to London in 1933 to act as Secretary of the Ceylon and India Mission.