Leslie Joseph Groves (9 June 1911 â 4 September 1990) was a New Zealand sportsman. In association football he represented New Zealand in two matches at international level. In cricket, he played 16 first-class matches for Otago between the 1929âÂÂ30 and 1949âÂÂ50 seasons.
Groves was born at Dunedin in 1911 and educated there at Otago Boys' High School. He worked as a manager. Groves played association football for Otago and represented the New Zealand national football team. He played two official A-international matches for the All Whites in 1933 against trans-Tasman neighbours Australia as part of a 13 match tour of Australia, the first a 2âÂÂ4 loss on 5 June 1933, his second another 2âÂÂ4 loss on 24 June.
Groves played cricket sporadically for Otago in a career of 16 first-class matches spread over 20 years. A leg-spin bowler, he took his best figures of 6 for 88 and 3 for 46 against the touring Fijian team in 1947âÂÂ48, helping Otago to victory by 47 runs.
Groves served with the New Zealand Army in Italy in the Second World War as a private. Following his death in 1990 obituaries were published in the 1991 New Zealand Cricket Almanack and the 1991 Wisden.