William Ingleby Jefferson (born 25 October 1979) is a former professional

cricketer Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

who played for

Essex County Cricket Club Essex County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Essex. Founded in 1876, the club had minor county status until 1894 w ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

and

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

in a 12-year career. He retired from the game in 2012 as a result of a chronic hip complaint. Standing tall, he was the tallest player in

county cricket Inter-county cricket matches have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Two county championship competitions have existed since the late 19th century at ...

during most of his career, and among the tallest professional cricketers ever. Jefferson was a right-handed

opening batsman In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batters play through their team's innings, there always being two batters taking part at any one time. All eleven players in a team are required to bat if the innings is completed (i.e., if ...

and a reliable

slip fielder In cricket, a slip fielding positions in cricket, fielder (collectively, a ''slip cordon'' or ''the slips'') is placed behind the Batting (cricket), batsman on the Fielding (cricket)#Off and leg side fields, off side of the field. They are place ...

. He was born in

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

to a cricketing family; his father

Richard Jefferson Richard Allen Jefferson Jr. (born June 21, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played small forward. He played for eight teams in his 17-season career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Jefferson playe ...

played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

for

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, while his grandfather Julian Jefferson played first-class cricket in the 1920s for services teams. He showed his promise at

Oundle School Oundle School is a public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school, boarding and day school) for pupils 11–18 situated in the market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire ...

and

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

. Jefferson studied at Durham from 1999 to 2002, completing the Sport in the Community course. He made his first-class debut for British Universities against the touring Zimbabweans in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

. His first full season at Essex was

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, during which he scored 815 first-class runs; his 165

not out In cricket, a batsman is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batsman is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at ...

in the final match of the season made a major contribution to Essex winning the second division of the County Championship. His best season was

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, in which he scored 1555 first-class runs at an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

of 55.53 with 6

centuries A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A ...

including a high score of 222. In

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, a slump in form saw him relegated to the Essex Second XI, but he responded with 303 not out against

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

(MCC) Young Cricketers, and regained his place in the first team. Before the start of the 2006 season, he suffered a freak accident, cutting his left wrist whilst trying to open a window, and severing the

tendon A tendon or sinew is a tough band of fibrous connective tissue, dense fibrous connective tissue that connects skeletal muscle, muscle to bone. It sends the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system, while withstanding tensi ...

s. After recovering from this injury, he failed to regain a regular place in the Essex side, and left the county by mutual consent in August 2006. In September of that year, he signed a three-year contract with Nottinghamshire. In January 2007, he was selected for the England A team to tour Bangladesh in February and March.Press release
from

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Nottinghamshire. The club's limited overs team is called th ...

Jefferson had his contract terminated by Nottinghamshire in September 2009 after a run of poor form stretching back two years. However, he marked a return to form by scoring 112 in the first match of the 2011 county season, and his finest moment for Leicestershire was probably to secure their place in the T20 Final that year by smashing three boundaries in the "super over" needed, after their semi-final against Lancashire ended in a tie.

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References

External links

*
Will Jefferson
from the ECB {{DEFAULTSORT:Jefferson, Will English cricketers Essex cricketers Nottinghamshire cricketers People educated at Oundle School 1979 births Living people Leicestershire cricketers Durham MCCU cricketers Cricketers from Derby British Universities cricketers Alumni of the College of St Hild and St Bede, Durham