When Harry Cave was selected to play Test cricket for New Zealand in 1949 he was fulfilling the promise of an entire family, a family who could’ve had a New Zealand representative a generation earlier if war had not intervened.
In the years before WWI, cricket in Wanganui was dominated by the Cave family; five brothers who all shared a passion for cricket and farming. When Taranaki and Wanganui combined to take on the Melbourne Cricket Club in 1900, Leonard, Ken and Henry took to the field while Wilfred and Arthur stood as umpires. Ken would go on to umpire New Zealand’s first Test in 1930, while Henry would see his son, Harry, represent New Zealand. The future was not so bright for Leonard, however.
In 1915, Leonard left the farm he was working with Harry and joined the 7th Reinforcements of the New Zealand Field Artillery. Embarking from Wellington in October 1915, Leonard’s service saw him stationed at the Somme in 1916 where he was wounded, forcing a stay in a London Hospital for several months. In 1917 he returned to action where, by October, he was stationed in Belgium. On the 18th of October 1917, Leonard Philip Cave was killed during a German air raid.
Leonard was often described as the best cricketer of the Cave brothers, in fact one report after his death noted that he was perhaps the best cricketer Wanganui had produced. All the potential that he held would eventually be fulfilled by his brother’s son, Harry.
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