Rudi Koertzen, the South African umpire, has announced his retirement from officiating in international cricket: his last Test will be the Pakistan-Australia fixture at Headingley from July 21 to 25. The ICC have added Marais Erasmus, from South Africa, and Rodney Tucker, from Australia, to the Elite Panel of Umpires for 2010-11 to replace Koertzen and Mark Benson, who stepped down from the panel in February.
Koertzen, 61, has officiated in 106 Tests, a record 209 ODIs and 14 Twenty20 internationals. His first international match was the ODI between between South Africa and India in Port Elizabeth on December 9, 1992 and he made his Test debut at the same venue three weeks later.
"A distinguished career like Rudi's presents a benchmark for aspirant umpires," ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said. "Rudi is a role model for many of the younger-generation umpires and his distinguished career sets a standard for them to emulate.
"He is one of the most respected umpires in the game and has always been confident and self motivated yet humble. It is why he has been comfortably able to embrace the core values of the traditional game with the technological advances in recent times."
Koertzen is currently in Zimbabwe, where he is officiating in the tri-series involving the hosts, India and Sri Lanka. "It has been 18 incredible years for me as an international umpire and I have thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it," he said, reflecting on his career. "I feel humbled to have been trusted with this massive responsibility and awarded this great opportunity to see cricket revolutionise, be actively involved in some of the biggest changes, see some of the iconic players of the modern era and be part of some of the most fascinating matches."
The umpires in the Elite Panel for 2010-11 are Billy Bowden, Aleem Dar, Steve Davis, Asoka de Silva, Billy Doctrove, Marais Erasmus, Ian Gould, Daryl Harper, Tony Hill, Asad Rauf, Simon Taufel, Rodney Tucker.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.