Lives in Cricket No 30 - MJK Smith

38 in the Leach Argentine Estates. In due course Viola returned to England for the birth of their only child Diana, born on 1 February 1934. In the Argentine, Diana enjoyed an education in which lessons were conducted in Spanish in the morning and English in the afternoon. By the 1950s Frank’s business in sugar and soft fruit had taken him to the Buenos Aires area, enabling the family to live in the strongly English enclave of Hurlingham. Still harbouring a fondness for the traditions of the home country, Diana’s parents sent her to a finishing school in Surrey. In retirement Frank and Viola left the Argentine to move closer to their only daughter and her children, setting up home at Torremolinos on the Costa del Sol, where they remained until Frank’s death, after which his widow moved to Sussex, where she could be close to a sister. The varsity party with which Mike toured the Argentine boasted eight international players, among them his close friends Peter Robbins and Roy Allaway, who captained the combined side. The highlights of the tour were two matches against the might of the Argentine in which the home team were awarded Test caps. Mike played at full back in the first match, which brought a comfortable 25-6 win for the tourists. For the second game he moved to fly half, with Welsh international Brian Richards switching to full back, the varsity team winning again by the narrower margin of 11-3. Romance in the Argentine The Leach family and their friends were great polo enthusiasts; Diana’s father, Frank Wesley Leach, is centre left. Centre right is Frank’s father-in-law, Ambrose Alexander.