Legendary umpire Marais Erasmus announced his retirement from all formats of the game. Having stood as an on-field umpire in more than 250 international games, Erasmus was one of the most decorated umpires of his time. His career as an international umpire started in 2006, officiating only the sixth T20I match in history. He went on to officiate in over 60 games in the shortest format.
Before making his mark on the international cricket scene, Erasmus umpired in club cricket and South Africa’s domestic circuit. As a player, he would play for Boland in South Africa’s domestic circuit. His last appearance for his club came way back in 1991, nine years before he took on the challenge of being an umpire.
Marais Erasmus calls it quits
After a 26-year-long career, Marais Erasmus finally decided to retire as an umpire on Sunday, 22nd March. He announced that the List A fixture between Boland and Lions in the CSA One-Day Cup would be his last as an umpire. He had already retired from international cricket in 2024.
While speaking to Cricbuzz, the umpire talked about how his last match as an umpire will be a regular game. He jokingly said, “There might be 50 souls and a dog,” when talking about his last match as an umpire.
The 62-year-old talked about how the motivation to umpire in games died after he officiated in his last test in 2024. He said, “Not that the last two years have been a drag – I’ve enjoyed the mentoring role. But maybe the motivation to be on the field has died since I did my last Test.”
He talked about how, for the past few years, he has taken up the role of mentoring. Erasmus talked about how he has been helping Indian umpire Rohan Pandit, who is part of the international umpire panel. He believes that after stepping away from the game, the South African would enjoy taking on the mantle of helping other umpires as well. “I am mentoring one of the Indian international panel umpires (Rohan Pandit) on the phone now and then. If others want to contact me, that would be enjoyable and easy to do,” Erasmus said.
Marais Erasmus as an International umpire
Marais Erasmus will be bidding farewell to cricket as an umpire after a decorated career. Standing in 82 tests as the on-field umpire, the 62-year-old jointly holds the record for the 10th most tests as an umpire. He officiated as the third umpire in another 45 games of the longest format.
In ODIs, Erasmus stood 124 games as an on-field umpire while he was the TV umpire in another 68 games. One of the most iconic games of his career as an umpire was the final of the 2019 ODI World Cup. Among all the chaos and pressure, in the final, Erasmus stood calm and gave right decisions throughout the game.
He officiated in 61 T20Is as on-field umpire for both men’s and women’s games. He was also a TV umpire for 18 games in men’s T20Is.
In the world of T20 leagues, Erasmus managed to be a globetrotter stood in another 92 T20 games around the world.
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