Former South African umpire Rudi Koertzen has died in a car accident at the age of 73.
“Rudi suffered fatal injuries after an accident near Stilbaai between Cape Town and Gqeberha,” said the family spokesperson, who requested anonymity.
“My father went to a golf tournament with some friends and they were expected to come back on Monday, but it seems they decided to play another round of golf,” his son Rudi told a Gqeberha radio station.
“Every umpire has their trademark and that was mine. The media labelled it the ‘slow finger of death’ and I found that pretty interesting. There is a story behind it,” Koertzen said in an interview.
“When my umpiring career first began, I used to hold my hands in front of me and every time there was an appeal, I would fold them against my ribs,” said Koertzen.
“The someone told me ‘Rudi, you cannot do that. Every time you raise your hands to fold them, the bowler thinks you are going to give him a wicket’.”
“So I started clasping my wrists at the back. The finger comes out slowly because it takes time for me to release my grasp at the back.”
Koertzen became an umpire in 1981 and officiated his first international fixture in 1992, when India toured South Africa.