Netherlands
Illawarra Mercury
Monday February 3, 2003
FORMER Somerset and Glamorgan star Roland Lefebvre will captain Holland at the World Cup in South Africa and Zimbabwe.
The 39-year-old, who will turn 40 before the finals, leads the Dutch squad, which also includes Bas Zuiderent of Sussex.
The first ball ever bowled by a Dutchman in a World Cup cricket match was delivered by Roland Lefebvre in Baroda, India, in February 1996.
The opposition, New Zealand, won by 199 runs, but Lefebvre, the present Dutch captain and one of only three survivors from that team, has many happy memories of the tournament.
``It was just a great occasion," he says. ``It was a great tournament and it was quite an overwhelming feeling playing against Test nations.
``It was quite daunting. I think we played some decent cricket there. I would have loved to have spent more time in India. In the end we had one game in India and four in Pakistan."
Other than Bas Zuiderent, who plays for Sussex, Lefebvre is the only member of the Dutch squad to have played county cricket.
Lefebvre spent six years between 1990 and 1995 with Somerset, and then Glamorgan, and will be 40 when the World Cup begins.
He is even older than England's Alec Stewart, but it also means that he brings plenty of experience to a green-looking Dutch side.
``From our point of view we need to look up at all the Test nations," Lefebvre said.
NETHERLANDS SQUAD
Roland Lefebvre (captain), Luuk van Troost, Reinout Scholte, Tim de Leede, Feiko Kloppenburg, Nick Statham, Daan van Bunge, Victor Grandia, Adeel Raja, Henk Jan Mol, Klaas Jan van Noortwijk, Edgar Schiferli, Jacob Jan Esmeijer, Bas Zuiderent, Jeroen Smits
STAR MAN: ROLAND LEFEBVRE
SportsTab: $5001
Pool A: Opening game v India, February 12, (Paarl).
© 2003 Illawarra Mercury
