The 60-year-old officiated in 85 Test matches and stood in some of the game’s biggest matches.
Erasmus told News24: “I hope the cricket world will remember me as someone they could trust and feel safe with when I was in charge of the matches.”
Born and raised in Bellville in Cape Town, Erasmus developed a love for cricket at an early age.
“My brothers and I always played cricket in the backyard,” he recalled. “I was nine years old when I played my very first cricket match. I was out first ball, but it didn’t bother me. I was simply mad about cricket.”
Erasmus played semi-professional cricket for Boland for nine years while also working as a teacher and later a school principal in Malmesbury.
After his playing career ended at 36, he turned to umpiring and quickly climbed through the ranks.
Erasmus made it onto the ICC’s Elite Panel of umpires in 2010 and stayed there until his international retirement in 2024.
Among the highlights of his career was officiating the 2019 Cricket World Cup final at Lord’s, becoming the first South African umpire to stand in the showpiece event.
Now settled in Hermanus with wife Adéle after nearly two decades of travel, Erasmus plans to focus on mentoring young umpires, spending time with family and finishing his book, Marais Erasmus: The Rock ’n Roll Years.
Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
