South African cricket umpire Rudi Koertzen dies in a car accident at the age of 73. He was a former International Cricket umpire and a member of ICC’s elite panel.
As per the native media, the 73-year-old was on his way back home from cape town after playing golf at Nelson Mandela Bay. The Umpire along with three other people died in a head collision. The incident took place on Tuesday morning at Riverdale, South Africa.
Later, the news was confirmed by Koertzen’s son Rudi Koertzen Jr. “He went on a golf tournament with some of his friends, and they were expected to come back on Monday, but it seems they decided to play another round of golf”, he said.
About Rudi Koertzen
Koertzen began his umpiring career in 1981 after failing to succeed as a cricket player. He umpired his first international match at the age of 43. Above all, his first match was India vs South Africa in 1992 at Gqebera(then Port Elizabeth).
He was a part of the International Cricket Council’s elite panel for eight years. In his career, Rudi officiated 331 international matches. His record was unbroken until he retired in 2010 and was later surpassed by Pakistan’s Aleem Dar.
Koertzen stood in 108 tests, a record 209 one-day internationals and 14 T20s over an 18-year career. He was one of three umpires to stand in over 300 tests along with Aleem Dar and Steve Bucknor.
The Umpire became known as ‘slow finger of death’ because of his habit of slowly raising his finger to indicate an out. Altogether, when asked about it in an interview Koertzen replied, “Every umpire has their trademark and that was mine.”
He retired from international cricket in 2010. The last official match in which Koertzen served was an IPL match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings at the Chinnaswamy in 2011.
Rudi’s death is a great shock to the cricket world. The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) led tributes to the umpire on Twitter, saying: “MCC is deeply saddened to learn of the death of Honorary Life Member and former umpire, Rudi Koertzen. Our thoughts are with his friends and family.”
Players like Virendra Sehwag, Kumar Sangakkara, VVS Lakshman and many more mourned over the death of the umpire.
The South Africa Team wore black armbands on the opening day of their tour against England Lions in Canterbury on Tuesday as a mark of respect.
