Former South African umpire Rudi Koertzen died in a car crash on Tuesday, August 09, 2022. The accident is reported to have occurred in an area called Riversdale. Koertzen was coming home from a golf weekend. The umpire was known for his slow finger raise, which got slower as it rose to announce the batter’s doom.
RIP Rudi Koertzen, the slow finger of doom. Some of the best umpiring aesthetics I’ve seen pic.twitter.com/XAqTSfDqS0 — Tom Carpenter (@Carpo34) August 9, 2022
“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”, Rudi Koertzen Jr, the son of the famous umpire, was quoted as saying by Algoa FM.
Koertzen, a clerk in South African Railway at the start of his career, turned to umpiring after failing to succeed as a cricket player.
At the age of 43, he first umpired in a Test match. He went on to stand as an umpire in 128 Tests and 250 ODIs. He even umpired in 19 T20Is.
RIP to one of the best cricket umpires Rudi Koertzen pic.twitter.com/nWEhXPj1d3
— James (@Surreycricfan) August 9, 2022
A career that started in 1992 went through many ups and downs, and as an umpire, he was part of several series tainted with the marks of spot and match-fixing. While he was praised for refusing a bribe in the 1999 Coca-Cola Cup, criticism came his way in the 2007 ODI World Cup when he could not judge bad light.
Rudi Koertzen passes away. One of the best cricket umpires . Officiated 331 matches as an umpire in International cricket. Debut Test Umire against India @ St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth 1992. 1st LBW Dismissal “Brian McMillan Bowling of Venkatapathy Raju.#RudiKoertzen pic.twitter.com/3HEEEdoclw
— Zohaib (Cricket King)
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