Roland Lefebvre

For the painter, see Roland Lefebvre (painter).
Roland Lefebvre
Personal information
Full name
Roland Philippe Lefebvre
Born (1963-02-07) 7 February 1963 (age 61)
Rotterdam, Netherlands
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium
International information
National side
ODI debut (cap 7)17 February 1996 v New Zealand
Last ODI28 February 2003 v Zimbabwe
ODI shirt no.1
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1990–1992Somerset
1990/91Canterbury
1993–1995Glamorgan
Career statistics
Competition ODI FC LA
Matches 11 77 137
Runs scored 171 1,494 955
Batting average 28.50 20.46 17.05
100s/50s 0/0 1/3 0/0
Top score 45 100 45
Balls bowled 534 13,485 6,783
Wickets 9 149 178
Bowling average 38.44 36.23 23.05
5 wickets in innings 0 3 2
10 wickets in match 0 0 0
Best bowling 2/38 6/45 7/15
Catches/stumpings 4/– 36/– 63/–
Source: Cricinfo, 15 May 2017

Roland Philippe Lefebvre (born 7 February 1963), is a Dutch former international cricketer who captained the Netherlands national cricket team in One Day International matches.[1]

Domestic career

Lefebvre made his first-class debut with Somerset against Oxford University in 1990, then took 5/30 on his first County Championship appearance the following week. Later that year, he claimed 7/15 (at the time the equal fifth-best return in List A cricket) in Somerset's record 346-run victory against Devon in the NatWest Trophy.[2] Lefebvre spent the winter in New Zealand, playing for Canterbury, where he achieved his career-best first-class bowling figures of 6/45, then back in England in 1991 scored his only first-class hundred, making exactly 100 against Worcestershire.[3]

Lefebvre was signed by Glamorgan for 1993 and proved particularly effective in one-day cricket where his consistent accuracy made him difficult for batsmen to dominate, as evidenced by a superb bowling analysis 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 listing him among the county's cult heroes.[4]

International career

In 1989 Lefebvre was in the Netherlands side that recorded a surprising victory over an England XI including Nasser Hussain, Alec Stewart and Derek Pringle in a limited-over match.,[5] and he was also present when they repeated the achievement (with Hussain again and Darren Gough in the England XI) four years later.[6] In between, Lefebvre also helped the Netherlands in their surprise victory against a West Indies team including Richie Richardson, Desmond Haynes, Courtney Walsh and Carl Hooper (who Lefebvre dismissed) in another limited-over match in 1991.[7] These matches did not have one-day international status, but in the following winter, 1993/4, Lefebvre took 11 wickets at 16.45 in the ICC Trophy,[8] helping the Netherlands to third in the tournament and thus qualification for the 1996 Cricket World Cup,[9] 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 ICC Trophy, 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 One Day International level in both the 1996 and 2003 World Cups and in the 2002–03 Champions Trophy, captaining the Dutch team from 1999 onwards. Although because of injury he missed his team's first victory in a one-day international, coming in the 2003 World Cup against Namibia,[10] ESPNCricinfo describes Lefebvre as "arguably the best cricketer Holland has produced".[11]

Lefebvre retired from playing after the 2003 World Cup, and now serves as the Dutch national youth coach.

References

  1. ^ "Roland Lefebvre". Cricket Europe. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  2. ^ "Devon v Somerset at Torquay". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  3. ^ "Somerset v Worcestershire at Weston-super-Mare". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  4. ^ "County Cult Heroes - Glamorgan". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  5. ^ "Netherlands XI v England XI at Amstelveen, 16 Aug 1989". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  6. ^ "England XI v The Netherlands at Haarlem, 10 July 1993". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  7. ^ "Netherlands v West Indies at Haarlem, 15 August 1991". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  8. ^ "1994 ICC Trophy in Kenya Averages Netherlands". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  9. ^ "ICC Trophy in Kenya, Feb-Mar 1994 - Results Summary". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  10. ^ "Dutch prove to be too strong for brave Namibia". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  11. ^ "Roland Lefebvre profile and biography". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 20 June 2022.