Krish Mackerdhuj (15 August 1939 – 26 May 2004) was a South African chemist,

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

official, and diplomat.

Early life

Mackerdhuj was born on 15 August 1939 in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

Natal Province The Province of Natal (), commonly called Natal, was a province of South Africa from May 1910 until May 1994. Its capital was Pietermaritzburg. During this period rural areas inhabited by the black African population of Natal were organized into ...

. He attended Sastri College in Durban and later completed the degree of Bachelor of Science at

Fort Hare University The University of Fort Hare is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was a key institution of higher education for Africans from 1916 to 1959 when it offered a Western-style academic education to students from across sub ...

. He worked as a chemical technologist for Shell and BP.

Cricket

Mackerdhuj played club cricket in Durban but retired due to injury. He umpired nine matches of

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

. In the 1970s and 1980s he was a member of the South African Council on Sport (SACOS), which was recognised as the sporting arm of the anti-apartheid movement. He was president of the multiracial South African Cricket Board (SACB) from 1984 to 1991. In the lead-up to the end of

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

, Mackerdhuj played a key role in the merger of SACB and the predominantly white South African Cricket Union (SACU). Mackerdhuj was subsequently elected as the first president of the

United Cricket Board of South Africa Cricket South Africa (CSA) is the governing body for both professional and amateur cricket in South Africa. In 1991, the separate South African Cricket Union and the South African Cricket Board merged to form the United Cricket Board of South Afr ...

in 1992. Along with

Ali Bacher Aron "Ali" Bacher (born 24 May 1942) is a former South African Test cricket Captain (cricket), captain and an administrator of the United Cricket Board of South Africa. Personal life Bacher was born in May 1942 in Roodepoort to Lithuanian-Jewish ...

, he successfully lobbied for South Africa to be awarded the hosting rights for the

2003 Cricket World Cup The 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup was the eighth Cricket World Cup, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya from 9 February to 23 March 2003. This edition of the World Cup was the f ...

Other activities

Mackerdhuj served as South Africa's ambassador to Japan from 1998 to 2003. He was later asked to serve as ambassador to Uzbekistan, but declined the position due to illness.

Personal life and legacy

Mackerdhuj died on 26 May 2004 at St Augustine's Hospital, Durban. He had suffered a mild heart attack two months earlier. He was survived by his wife Sminthra and sons Prashim and Avin. In January 2011, South Africa hosted India for a one-off Twenty20 International in Durban, the winner of which was awarded the Krish Mackerdhuj Trophy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackerdhuj, Krish 1939 births 2004 deaths South African people of Indian descent South African cricket administrators Ambassadors of South Africa to Japan South African chemists University of Fort Hare alumni People from Durban