Rudi Koertzen

Rudolf Eric Koertzen (/ˈkɜrtsən/; born 26 March 1949) otherwise known as Rudi Koertzen is a former international cricket umpire.

Koertzen was born in Knysna in the Western Cape, South Africa. A cricket enthusiast since his youth, Koertzen played league cricket while working for South African Railways. He became an umpire in 1981. His "slow death" style of indicating that a batsman is out makes him at once recognisable anywhere in the cricket world.

He officiated in his first One Day International match when South Africa played India at Port Elizabeth on 9 December 1992, and in his first Test match during the same tour, when South Africa played India at Port Elizabeth on 26–29 December 1992. This series was also the first in which television replays were used to assist with run out decisions.

He became a full-time ICC umpire in 1997, and was one of the original members of the Emirates ICC Elite umpire panel when it was founded in 2002. Following the retirement of Steve Bucknor in March 2009, he and Daryl Harper are the last two umpires from the original elite panel to continue standing in Test matches. He has officiated in world record number of ODIs, having overtaken David Shepherd's record of 172 matches with the Cricket World Cup match between England and West Indies at Barbados in April 2007. He was the second man to stand in 150 ODIs with the match between India and Pakistan at Abu Dhabi in April 2006. On 11 July 2009, he became the first person in the history of the game to umpire 200 One-day internationals.^[1] He became the second umpire to stand in 100 Test matches in July 2009, standing in the second 2009 Ashes Test at Lord's.

He has been appointed to several high profile matches including India-Pakistan series and Ashes series (he was one of the umpires during the famous 2005 Ashes). In the 2003 Cricket World Cup, he officiated on-field in one of the semi-finals and was the third umpire in the final. He reprised those role in the 2007 Cricket World Cup. He has also been the on-field umpire for the final of the Champions Trophy in both 2004 and 2006. He was also selected to umpire in the ICC SuperSeries (Australia v World XI) in 2005, along with Taufel, Dar and Darrell Hair.

His professionalism has seen him through some controversial moments, especially in relation to being approached by people wishing to fix the results of matches in 1999. He is also highly regarded by the players; he was officially voted the top umpire in 2002, and was nominated for the Umpire of the Year award in 2005 and 2006, finishing 3rd on both occasions behind Simon Taufel, who won on both occasions, and Aleem Dar, who was second on both occasions. However, for the role he played in the 2007 World Cup final, misinterpreting the bad light rules, Koertzen was stood down from officiating in the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 championship in September 2007. He was selected to umpire matches in the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England.

Koertzen has stated that his career goal is umpiring 100 tests and 200 ODIs before he retires,^[2] something which he achieved during the 2nd Ashes Test at Lord's in July 2009.^[3]

Koertzen announced his decision to retire in June, and his last assignment as an international Umpire was the second and final Test between Pakistan and Australia played at Headingley from 21 to 24 July 2010.^[4]

Umpiring statistics

As of the 4 June 2010:

Awards

ICC Bronze Bails Award for 100 ODIs.
ICC Silver Bails Award for 200 ODIs.
ICC Golden Bails Award for 100 Tests.
(Koertzen is the only umpire to achieve all three.)

See also

• List of Test cricket umpires
• List of One Day International cricket umpires
• List of Twenty20 International cricket umpires

References

External links

• Rudi Koertzen Profile on Cricinfo website