Roland Philippe Lefebvre (born 7 February 1963), is a Dutch former international

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 captained the

Netherlands national cricket team The Netherlands men's national cricket team (), usually referred as "The Flying Dutchmen" is a team that represents the Netherlands in men's international cricket and is administered by the Royal Dutch Cricket Association. Cricket has been pl ...

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

matches.

Domestic career

Lefebvre made his first-class debut with

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

against

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in 1990, then took 5/30 on his first

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

appearance the following week. Later that year, he claimed 7/15 (at the time the equal fifth-best return in

List A cricket List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the num ...

) in Somerset's record 346-run victory against

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

in the

NatWest Trophy The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class counties competed each season. They were joined by teams from Scotland and Ireland. Lan ...

. Lefebvre spent the winter in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, playing for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

, where he achieved his career-best first-class bowling figures of 6/45, then back in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1991 scored his only first-class hundred, making exactly 100 against

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

. Lefebvre was signed by

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

for 1993 and proved particularly effective in

one-day cricket Limited overs cricket, also known as white ball cricket, is a version of the sport of cricket in which a match is generally completed within one day. There are a number of formats, including List A cricket (8-hour games), Twenty20 cricket (3-h ...

where his consistent accuracy made him difficult for batsmen to dominate, as evidenced by a superb

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of 11-5-13-2 in the quarter-final of the NatWest Trophy game against Worcestershire. Lefebvre's bowling was a significant factor in Glamorgan's Sunday League triumph in 1993. Lefebvre was also a popular figure at Glamorgan,

Andrew Hignell Andrew Keith Hignell (born 12 October 1959 in Gloucester) is a cricket historian and scorer. Hignell has a PhD in Geography from Cardiff University. He has been the Glamorgan 1st XI scorer since 1982. For over 25 years he combined a career as a ...

listing him among the county's cult heroes.

International career

In 1989 Lefebvre was in the Netherlands side that recorded a surprising victory over an England XI including

Nasser Hussain Nasser Hussain (born 28 March 1968) is an English cricket commentator and former player who captained the England cricket team between 1999 and 2003, with his overall international career extending from 1990 to 2004. A pugnacious right-hande ...

Alec Stewart Alec James Stewart (born 8 April 1963) is an English former cricketer, and former captain of the England cricket team, who played Test cricket and One Day Internationals as a right-handed wicket-keeper-batsman. He is the fifth-most- capped En ...

and

Derek Pringle Derek Raymond Pringle (born 18 September 1958) is a Kenyan-born English former Test and One Day International cricketer for England, and is now a cricket journalist. He was a part of the English squads which finished as runners-up at the 198 ...

in a limited-over match, and he was also present when they repeated the achievement (with Hussain again and

Darren Gough Darren Gough (born 18 September 1970) is a retired English cricketer and former captain of Yorkshire County Cricket Club. The spearhead of England's bowling attack through much of the 1990s, he is England's second highest wicket-taker in one-d ...

in the England XI) four years later. In between, Lefebvre also helped the Netherlands in their surprise victory against a

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

team including

Richie Richardson Sir Richard Benjamin Richardson, KCN GCM (born 12 January 1962) is a former West Indies international cricketer and a former captain of the West Indian cricket team. He was a flamboyant batsman and superb player of fast bowling. He was named ...

Desmond Haynes Desmond Leo Haynes (born 15 February 1956) is a former Barbadian cricketer and cricket coach who played for the West Indies cricket team between 1978 and 1994. He was a member of the squads which won the 1979 Cricket World Cup as well as finis ...

Courtney Walsh Courtney Andrew Walsh OJ (born 30 October 1962) is a Jamaican former cricketer who represented the West Indies from 1984 to 2001, captaining the team in 22 Test matches. He played as a fast bowler and is considered one of the all-time greats, ...

and

Carl Hooper Carl Llewelyn Hooper (born 15 December 1966) is a Guyanese former cricketer who captained the West Indies in Test matches and One Day International matches. An all-rounder, he was a right-handed batsman and off-spin bowler, who came to promin ...

(who Lefebvre dismissed) in another limited-over match in 1991. These matches did not have

one-day international One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

status but, during the following winter, 1993/4, Lefebvre took 11 wickets at 16.45 in the

ICC Trophy The Cricket World Cup Qualifier (previously called the ICC Trophy and officially known as the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier) is a One-Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that serves as the culmination of the qualification pro ...

, helping the Netherlands to achieve third place in the tournament and qualification for the

1996 Cricket World Cup The 1996 Cricket World Cup, also called the Wills World Cup 1996 for sponsorship reasons, was the sixth Cricket World Cup organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was co-hosted by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The tournament wa ...

, ensuring the team would play its first full internationals in that tournament. Although a bad groin injury in 1995 forced Lefebvre to retire from professional cricket, he continued to appear for his country in the

, a competition for which he holds several career records: most appearances (43), most wickets taken (71 at just 11.64) and most catches by an outfielder (26). He also appeared for the Netherlands at full

level in both the

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

and 2003 World Cups and in the 2002–03

Champions Trophy The ICC Champions Trophy, formerly known as the ICC Knock Out Trophy, is an international One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) contested by international men's teams. Inaugurat ...

, captaining the Dutch team from 1999 onwards. Although because of injury he missed his team's first victory in a

, coming in the 2003 World Cup against

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describes Lefebvre as "arguably the best cricketer Holland has produced". Lefebvre retired from playing after the 2003 World Cup, and now serves as the Dutch national youth coach.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lefebvre, Roland 1963 births Living people Dutch cricket captains Somerset cricketers Expatriate cricketers in England Glamorgan cricketers Canterbury cricketers Netherlands One Day International cricketers Cricketers from Rotterdam Dutch cricket coaches Dutch cricketers