Then aged twenty-four, Les played on the right-wing for Clapton Orient in a 3-2 home defeat to Exeter City on 25 October 1930. Having joined the East London club three years earlier, it was one of the fourteen league appearances he made before a brief spell with Gillingham the following year. He then concentrated on a first-class cricket career that lasted until 1951.

A wicketkeeper-batsman with Kent, he had enjoyed four seasons of county cricket by the time he lined up against the Grecians in that Division Three (South) fixture and had already been on England's 1928/29 tour of Australia. Without playing a test on that tour, Les finally made his England debut against South Africa in August 1929 which proved to be the start of a 47-game test career that saw him score 2,434 runs (average 40.56), take 74 catches and make 23 stumpings. He subsequently managed England tours in the late 1960s alongside his involvement with the successful Kent sides of the early 1970s.

He was a member of England's 1932/33 bodyline tour of Australia along with Wally Hammond who had appeared for Bristol Rovers against Exeter City during the early 1920s. His test career also overlapped with that of Patsy Hendren who appeared against the Grecians in the colours of Brentford on numerous occasions between 1911 and 1927.

Les Ames died in Canterbury in February 1990 aged eighty-four.