One of the most popular umpires in cricket Rudi Koertzen (73) has been killed in a car crash.
JOHANNESBURG - One of the most popular umpires in cricket Rudi Eric Koertzen has been killed in a car crash.Koertzen lived in Despatch in Nelson Mandela Bay.Koertzen was born in Knysna, in the Western Cape, and took an interest in cricket from an early age.Both matches were between South Africa and India and also saw the first series in which television replays were used to assist with run-out decisions.
Koertzen soon became well known for very slowly raising his index finger to indicate that a batsman was out. He became a full-time International Cricket Council umpire in 1997, and was one of the original members of the elite panel of ICC umpires when it was founded in 2002.Koertzen also became the second umpire, after Steve Bucknor, to stand in 100 test matches.
He participated in the 2003 and 2007 cricket world cups and the ICC Champions Trophy in both 2004 and 2006 among others.