Marais Erasmus, a South African official, has been named ICC Umpire of the year three years in a row.
Marais Erasmus, a South African official, has been named ICC Umpire of the year three years in a row. Erasmus appeared in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup final against Australia and New Zealand. Afterwards, he fetched the respect of his compatriots. Also, the ICC did not forget to shower him with appreciation.
The 2021 ICC Umpire of the Year Award joins his previous Dave Shepherd Trophies from 2016 and 2017. Umpire Erasmus is widely considered one of the greatest in the world. In 2021, he was in control of 20 international matches throughout all three formats. He is also a member of the noble panel of the ICC umpires.
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Besides Rudi Koertzen and David Orchard, Erasmus is the third South African umpire to stand in 100 ODIs. Previously this year, Mohammad Rizwan, a Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman, was named the ICC Men's T20I Cricketer of 2021, while Tammy Beaumont of England was crowned the ICC Women's T20I Cricketer of 2021.
Rizwan scored his first T20I century against South Africa in February. He extended his success into the T20 World Cup, scoring 79* from only 55 balls against India. He went on to finish as the competition's third-highest run-scorer.
Meanwhile, Beaumont was the Player of the Tournament in an international match against New Zealand. She was the leading run-scorer whenever the teams played on English soil later that year, putting up a bank of scores for her country.