Leak, who was born in Adelaide and educated at Scotch College,[1] lost some of his best sporting years to the war.
In the 1930s and early 1940s, Leak represented the South Australian cricket team in eight first-class matches and played for Sturt at district level.
[2] As a state cricketer, Leak had the distinction of playing his earliest matches under the captaincy of Don Bradman.
In fact, it wasn't until his sixth first-class match that he made a half-century, breaking the drought with an innings of 79 in a high scoring encounter with New South Wales.
During the war, Leak served with the Royal Australian Navy, and was stationed at the naval base HMAS Torrens in South Australia.