Cape Town, Aug 9 : Former South African umpire Rudi Koertzen as well with three others died in an accident in a vehicle close to Riversdale on Tuesday.according to a news report said.The 73-year-old Koertzen was heading to return home from Cape Town to Despatch in Eastern Cape, after a golfing weekend when the tragedy occurred.The son of the deceased, Rudi Koertzen Jr, said his father died upon the impact.
“He played in an golf tournament with some of his buddies and was expected to return the following Monday, however they decided to go for a second round of golf”, Koertzen Jr told South African outlet Algoa FM News.
Koertzen was an umpire in 331 international matches.
which was a record in the year of his retirement in 2010.Aleem Dar of Pakistan has since surpassed Koertzen.
Together with Dar as well as West Indies’ Steve Bucknor, Koertzen was one of three umpires to be present in more than 100 Tests.
“It is a huge loss first for his family and also for South Africa and cricket,” Dar was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
“I played in many matches with him.He was not just skilled as an umpire, but also a great co-worker, always co-operative on the field, and always willing to help out off the field.Because of the manner in which he was, he was also well-respected by players,” he added.
A fellow South African umpire, Marais Erasmus Marais Erasmus “Rudi was an incredible person both physically and mentally.
He set the stage for South African umpires to get to the international stage.We all believed it was possible.A true legend.When I was a young umpire, I learned much from him.”
Koertzen’s first international match was the India tour of South Africa in 1992-93 since his first match was the second ODI in Gqeberha (then Port Elizabeth).He became one of the most respected and highly respected umpires in the world.
He was praised in September 1999 when he refused the use of bribes to influence the game between West Indies and India in Singapore.
However the 2007 World cup final was a minor blip in Koertzen’s professional career.
He was third in the umpire’s circle in the final in Barbados in which officials were brought in for criticism and were penalized by the ICC after an unsettling conclusion of the match.
After his retirement from international cricket in 2010 Koertzen published the book Slow Death: Memoirs of an Umpire for Cricket (with Chris Schoeman), in which he openly discussed his 2007 World Cup final and other notable “errors” he had made in his career.
The last game that he played in as a representative he was in was in 2011 in which was an IPL match played between Royal Challenger Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings in Bengaluru.
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