Marais Erasmus (born 27 February 1964) is a South African former

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 officia ...

er who is currently serving as an

international cricket International cricket matches are played between teams representing their nations, normally organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The main forms are Test matches, One-Day matches and Twenty20 matches. Most games are played ...

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

. He is a member of the

Elite Panel of ICC Umpires The Elite Panel of ICC Umpires is a panel of cricket umpires appointed by the International Cricket Council to officiate in Test matches and One Day Internationals around the world. The panel was first established in April 2002 when the ICC deci ...

and stands in matches of all three formats of international cricket – Test matches, One Day Internationals (ODIs), and

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

s (T20Is).

Playing career

Erasmus played first-class cricket for Boland cricket team from 1988/89 to 1996/97 as a

fast-medium bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. ...

and a lower-order batsman. His highest score of 103

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

came while batting at number seven in the second innings, after scoring 51 not out in the first innings, against the visiting Warwickshire cricket team in the 1991/92 season. His best bowling figures of 6/22 came against the touring

New Zealand cricket team The New Zealand national cricket team represents New Zealand in men's international cricket. Named the Black Caps, they played their first Test in 1930 against England in Christchurch, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. From 1930 ...

in the 1994/95 season. However, the match had to be abandoned early on the second day, because of a dangerous pitch at Boland Bank Park.

Umpiring career

Erasmus began umpiring in first-class cricket in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

in the 2002/03 season. He stood in his first international match, a T20I fixture between

and Australia, at the

New Wanderers Stadium The Wanderers Stadium (Imperial Wanderers due to sponsorship reasons and affectionately known as the Bullring due to its intimidating atmosphere) is a stadium situated just south of Sandton in Illovo, Johannesburg in Gauteng Province, South ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

on 24 February 2006. He made his debut as an umpire in ODIs when he stood in the match between

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

at the

Gymkhana Club Ground Nairobi Gymkhana Club is a cricket ground and team in Nairobi, Kenya. It hosted two matches during the 2003 Cricket World Cup. The ground has a capacity of 7,000 people. It is located north of the central business district, but not far from it. ...

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

on 18 October 2007. He was appointed to the

International Panel of ICC Umpires The International Panel of ICC Umpires was established by the ICC in 1994 following trial in 1992/3, to ensure that one neutral umpire would stand in every Test match.2009 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier Final between

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

at the

Centurion Park Centurion Park is a cricket ground in Centurion, Gauteng, South Africa. It is also known as SuperSport Park since television company Supersport bought shares in the stadium. The capacity of the ground is 22,000. The Titans cricket team have pl ...

in Centurion on 19 April 2009. Erasmus made his debut as an umpire in Tests when he took the field for the match between

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

at the

Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium (Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium) ( bn, জহুর আহমেদ চৌধুরী স্টেডিয়াম), abbreviated as ZAC Stadium or ZACS and previously known as Bir Shrestha Shahid Ruhul Amin Stadi ...

in Chittagong from 17 to 21 January 2010. He was subsequently promoted to the

in 2010 where he replaced the retiring

Rudi Koertzen Rudolf Eric Koertzen (; 26 March 1949 – 9 August 2022) was a South African international cricket umpire. A cricket enthusiast since his youth, he played league cricket while working as a clerk for South African Railways. He began umpiring in ...

. Erasmus was a part of the panel of eighteen umpires selected to stand in matches during the

2011 ICC Cricket World Cup The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup was the tenth Cricket World Cup. It was played in India, Sri Lanka, and for the first time in Bangladesh. India won the tournament, defeating Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, thus ...

hosted by

, Sri Lanka and

. He made his umpiring debut in the Cricket World Cup when he took the field for the match between

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

at the

M. A. Chidambaram Stadium M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, commonly known as the Chepauk Stadium, is a cricket stadium in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1916, it is the second oldest cricket stadium in the country after Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Formerly known as Ma ...

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

on 20 February 2011. Erasmus went on to stand in the quarter-final between the hosts,

, and Australia, at the

Sardar Patel Stadium The Narendra Modi Stadium (Gujarati: નરેન્દ્ર મોદી સ્ટેડિયમ; Hindi: नरेन्द्र मोदी स्टेडियम), formerly known as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium is a cricket stadi ...

in Ahmedabad on 24 March 2011. Erasmus was included in the panel of twenty umpires selected for officiating in matches during the

2015 ICC Cricket World Cup The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 11th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was jointly hosted by A ...

, hosted by Australia and

. He stood in the opening match between

and Sri Lanka at the

Hagley Oval Hagley Oval is a cricket ground in Hagley Park in the central city of Christchurch, New Zealand. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1867, when Canterbury cricket team hosted Otago cricket team. Canterbury used the ground infrequen ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

on 14 February 2015. Erasmus went on to stand in the quarter-final between the hosts, Australia, and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

, at the

Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby le ...

on 20 March 2015. He was also the TV umpire for the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup Final in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

on 29 March 2015. In December 2016, Erasmus won the

David Shepherd Trophy The David Shepherd Trophy is awarded annually by the International Cricket Council to the ICC Umpire of the Year. The Trophy is named after famous and respected English umpire David Shepherd. The first David Shepherd Trophy was awarded to Simon ...

for the ICC Umpire of the Year. He was the fifth umpire overall and the first South African to win the award in its history. During the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy held in England and Wales, he stood in the semi-final between the hosts,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and

, at

Sophia Gardens Sophia Gardens ( cy, Gerddi Sophia) is a public park in Riverside, Cardiff, Wales, on the west bank of the River Taff. International test cricket matches and county cricket matches are held in the Sophia Gardens cricket ground, the home of ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

on 14 June 2017. Erasmus went on to stand in the

2017 ICC Champions Trophy Final The final of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy was played on 18 June 2017 between Pakistan and India at The Oval in London, to determine the winner of the eighth edition of the ICC Champions Trophy. Pakistan qualified for the final by defeating the h ...

between arch-rivals

and

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on 18 June 2017. Erasmus stood in his 100th first-class match when he umpired the Test between

and the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

at Lord's in

from 7–11 September 2017. He was named ICC Umpire of the Year for 2017, and was awarded the

for the second consecutive year. Erasmus stood in the 50th Test of his career when he took the field for the match between

and

at Lord's in London from 9–13 August 2018. In April 2019, he was named as one of the sixteen umpires to stand in matches during the

2019 Cricket World Cup The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 12th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted between 30 May ...

. In July 2019, he was named as one of the two on-field umpires for the second semi-final match, between Australia and

. Later the same month, he was also named as one of the two on-field umpires for the Cricket World Cup Final. In January 2022, in the opening fixture between South Africa and India, Erasmus officiated in his 100th ODI as an on-field umpire. Later the same month, Erasmus was named the ICC Umpire of the Year for 2021.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Erasmus, Marais 1964 births Living people Boland cricketers South African cricketers South African Test cricket umpires South African One Day International cricket umpires South African Twenty20 International cricket umpires People from George, South Africa

Playing career

Umpiring career

See also

References

External links