Rudi koertzen biography for kids

South African cricket umpire (–)

Rudolf Eric Koertzen (; 26 March – 9 August ) was a South African international cricketumpire and former cricketer. A cricket enthusiast since his youth, he played league cricket while working as a clerk for South African Railways. He began umpiring in , before becoming a full-time official eleven years later.

In an international career spanning 18 years, he officiated in a record matches and is only behind Aleem Dar in officiating as an umpire in most international matches.

Biography of famous people for kids: Exiled Afghanistan women players to men's team: 'Please be the voice of the girls'. Day 1 - Chandigarh chose to field. Archived from the original on 10 August What a wonderful friend and umpire.

Early life

Koertzen was born in Knysna, Cape Province, Union of South Africa, on 26 March ^[1][2] A medium pace bowler, he played for a top-level cricket club in Kimberley.^[3] He worked as a railway clerk in Port Elizabeth,^[1][3] before being employed in the construction industry.^[3][4] He started umpiring in ,^[1] before becoming a full-time umpire in , when he was 43 years old.^[2][3]

Umpiring career

Koertzen officiated in his first One Day International (ODI) on 9 December , and in his first Test match later the same month.

Both matches were contested between South Africa and India at Port Elizabeth, in the first series in which television replays were used to assist with run out decisions. Koertzen soon became well known for his manner of giving batters out. Due to the slow raising of his index finger, he became known as the "slow finger of death".^[5][6] This nickname originated from Daryll Cullinan, the South Africa batsman, who once asked Koertzen: “Why do you make me suffer and wait for that slow death decision?”^[7]

Koertzen became a full-time International Cricket Council (ICC) umpire in , and was one of the original members of the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires when it was founded in ^[8] He went on to officiate in a record ODIs – becoming the second umpire (after David Shepherd) to stand in ODIs with the match between India and Pakistan at Abu Dhabi on 19 April ;^[9] he later surpassed Shepherd's record of ODIs at the Cricket World Cup with the match between the West Indies and England in Barbados on 21 April ^[10] His th ODI was the match between Ireland and Kenya at Dublin on 11 July ^[11] He also became the second umpire, after Steve Bucknor, to stand in Test matches with the second Test of the Ashes between England and Australia at Lord's on 16 July ,^[12] and eventually officiated in Tests.^[1]

Throughout his career, Koertzen was appointed to several high-profile matches, including Ashes series (he was one of the umpires during the famous Ashes) and series between India and Pakistan.^[4] In both the and Cricket World Cups, he officiated on-field in one of the semi-finals and was the third umpire in the final.^[13] He was also one of the on-field umpires for the final of the ICC Champions Trophy in both and ,^[14][15] and was selected to umpire in the ICC Super Series (Australia v World XI) in , along with Simon Taufel, Aleem Dar and Darrell Hair.^[16]

Koertzen's professionalism saw him through some controversial moments: in September , he refused a bribe to fix the outcome of the final of the Singapore Challenge between the West Indies and India, and in January , he stood in the Test match between South Africa and England at Centurion, where both teams forfeited an innings in order to force a result after South African captain Hansie Cronje had been approached by a bookmaker.^[17] He was highly regarded by the players: he was voted the top umpire in , and was nominated for the ICC Umpire of the Year award in and , on both occasions finishing third behind Taufel and Aleem Dar.

However, he also made a number of high-profile errors, most notably in the ill-tempered Test between Sri Lanka and England at Kandy in March ,^[18] and in the final of the World Cup, where his misinterpretation of the rules regarding bad light resulted in him being banned from officiating in the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 tournament later that year^[1][19] (though he was selected for the following World Twenty20 tournament, in ).^[20]

On 4 June , Koertzen announced that he would be retiring from umpiring after the Test series between Australia and Pakistan in England that summer.^[21] His final ODI was between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka at Harare on 9 June , and his final Test was between Pakistan and Australia at Leeds on 21–24 July ^[22] He was part of ICC's elite panel of umpires for a duration of eight years from to and by the time when he retired, he held the world record for having officiated in most international matches as an umpire.^[23]

Post international umpiring

Following his international retirement in , he published a book titled Slow Death: Memoirs of a Cricket Umpire in which he specifically addressed the shortcomings during the Cricket World Cup final which had one of the farcical tense finishes in history.

His last representative match as an umpire came during the Indian Premier League between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings.^[24]

Death

Koertzen died in a car accident near Riversdale, Western Cape, on 9 August ; while driving back from a golfing weekend in Cape Town to his family home in Despatch, Eastern Cape, the car he was travelling in was involved in a head-on collision that also killed three other people.

He was 73 years old.^[2][3][25]

Awards

Koertzen was the first umpire to earn all three of these awards. This feat has since only been achieved by Aleem Dar.^[13]

See also

References

External links