Former ICC Elite-Panel Umpire Rudi Koertzen Dies Aged 73

Former South African umpire Rudi Koertzen, a member of the ICC’s elite panel, passed away at the age of 73. He was killed in an automobile accident en route from Cape Town to Despatch, where he and his family resided in South Africa’s Eastern Cape.

Rudi Koertzen Jr., Koertzen’s son, verified the information. Koertzen Jr. told a South African website, Algoa FM News, “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.”

After joining the ICC’s top panel of umpires in 2002, Koertzen served on it for eight years, officiating 331 international games—a record that Pakistan’s Aleem Dar has since broken. Koertzen was one of three umpires to stand in more than 100 Test matches, with Dar and Steve Bucknor of the West Indies.

Fellow South African umpire Marais Erasmus said: “Rudi was such a strong character, physically and mentally. He paved the way for South African umpires to get to the world stage. Made us all believe it’s possible. A true legend. As a young umpire, I learned a lot from him.”

When India toured South Africa in 1992–1993, Koertzen, then 43, played in his first international series. His debut match was the second ODI in Gqeberha (then Port Elizabeth). He later rose to prominence as one of the best and most respected umpires in the world and received accolades in September 1999 for turning down a bribe to rig a West Indies vs. India match in Singapore. However, the 2007 World Cup final was a misstep in his career. Koertzen served as the third umpire in that game in Barbados, when the officials faced criticism and were punished by the ICC after the game’s wild conclusion.

Koertzen wrote about the 2007 World Cup final in Slow Death: Memoirs of a Cricket Umpire, a book he co-authored after quitting as an international umpire in 2010. Due to the length of time, it took Koertzen to raise his finger to strike out a batter, he earned the moniker “Slow Death.”

Koertzen last participated in a representative game in an IPL game between Royal Challenger Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings in Bengaluru in 2011.

He continued to officiate a few games in his hometown of Despatch at the time of his passing and assisted Despatch Cricket Club with pitch preparation.