Roger Leedham Brown is a former Australian first-class cricket

First-class cricket

First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...

er, who until the arrival of Jason Gillespie

Jason Gillespie

Jason Neil Gillespie is an Australian cricketer who formerly represented Australia at international level, in both Tests and One Day Internationals, and South Australia, Yorkshire and Glamorgan at first-class level. His primary role is as a right-arm fast-medium bowler, but he is also a competent...

, had played more first-class matches than any other Aboriginal Australian.

Born in Launceston, Tasmania

Launceston, Tasmania

Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...

, Brown played for Tasmania

Tasmanian Tigers

The Tasmanian cricket team, nicknamed the Tigers, represents the Australian state of Tasmania in cricket tournaments. They compete annually in the Australian domestic senior men's cricket season, which currently consists of the first-class Sheffield Shield, the limited overs Ford Ranger Cup, and...

 between 1984 and 1987, and represented Young Australia in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...

 in 1985 and the Australian Prime Minister's XI

Prime Minister's XI

Prime Minister's XI or PM's XI is the name of an annual cricket match held at the Manuka Oval in Canberra, with the Australian team picked by the Prime Minister of Australia playing against an overseas team...

 against England in 1986/87. Brown was also a leading soccer player in Tasmania, representing Launceston Juventus

Launceston City FC

Launceston City is an Australian football club based in Launceston, Tasmania. It competes in the Northern Premier League run by the governing body Football Federation Tasmania and has over 100 registered players across senior, women and social leagues.The junior club is run as the "Westside...

.

Sources

• Tatz, C. & Tatz, P. (2000) Black Gold, Aboriginal Studies Press: Canberra. ISBN 0 85575 367 6.