Roland Lefebvre

Roland Lefebvre
Personal information
Full name Roland Philippe Lefebvre
Born 7 February 1963
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Batting style Right-handed
Bowling style Right–arm medium (RM)
International information
National side
ODI debut 17 February 1996 v New Zealand
Last ODI 28 February 2003 v Zimbabwe
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1993–1995 Glamorgan
1990–1992 Somerset
1990/91 Canterbury
Career statistics
Competition ODIs FC List A
Matches 11 77 137
Runs scored 171 1494 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 13485 6783
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 n/a
Best bowling 2/38 6/45 7/15
Catches/stumpings 4/– 36/– 63/–
Source: Cricinfo, 3 October 2009

Roland Philippe Lefebvre (born 7 February 1963) is one of the most successful cricket players that the Netherlands has produced, and one of the very few players from outside the Test-playing nations to achieve a significant career in the professional game.

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. He spent the winter in New Zealand playing for Canterbury, where he achieved his career-best first-class bowling of 6/45, then back in England in 1991 scored his only first-class hundred, making exactly 100 against Worcestershire.

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.

A bad groin injury in 1995 forced Lefebvre to retire from professional cricket, but 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 the 1996 and 2003 World Cups and in the 2002/03 Champions Trophy, captaining the Dutch team from 1999 onwards.

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

External links