Will Jefferson

Squad Number - 1

Player Sponsor - Thomas May www.thomasmay.co.uk

Born - Derby, 25 October, 1979

Joined - Leicestershire end of 2009 season

Role - Right hand opening batsman

Family - Grandfather Jefferson played for the Army and Combined Services in the 1920s, Father Richard played for Cambridge University and Surrey

Teams Represented - Essex, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire

Honours - Second division Championship with Essex (2002), England A tour, FL t20 title with Leicestershire

Highlights of Career - Being awarded county cap at Essex after making 165* in Second Division Championship clinching win against Notts. 222 v Hampshire at Rose Bowl in 2004.

Players Admired - Andy Flower, Nasser Hussain

Relaxations - Reading, Bikram Yoga, music, spending time with family

Will Jefferson enjoyed a terrific 2011 season. The batsman finished leading run-scorer in the LV=County Championship with 1,007 and also helped Leicestershire qualify for the Nokia Champions League T20 tournament in India after a brilliant super-over performance against Lancashire Lightning.

Lancashire scored 13 in their over but Jefferson guided the team home with two fours and a mighty six. It was a great moment for Jefferson – you could see how much it meant to him by his reaction.

Jefferson was a model of consistency in the LV=CC and scored three centuries. His partnership with Matthew Boyce was a bright spark in a difficult campaign.

The batsman was plagued by a niggling Achilles injury in 2010 but scored heavily in the first-class arena when fit, including an outstanding hundred against Surrey at the Oval.

Jefferson also made quite an impression during the t20 campaign and his innings of 83 from just 33 balls against Derbyshire at Chesterfield was quite breathtaking and a fine display of clean, powerful hitting.

Jefferson, who has represented England Lions, excelled at school and university level, and scored nearly 800 runs at an average of around 40 in his first full season at Essex.

That season included a match-winning 165 not out against future employers Nottinghamshire at Chelmsford to seal Essex's promotion to Division One and he gained his county cap in the process.

Jefferson is also a reliable slip fielder – he pocketed 24 catches in the LV=CC in 2011 - and his experience will again be invaluable to Leicestershire’s young batting order in the 2012 campaign.

WI Jefferson 2011 (93.56 kB)