Marais Erasmus Height, Weight, Age, Facts, Biography

Marais Erasmus is a South African cricket umpire and former cricketer who has officiated in more than 200 men’s international cricket matches across all formats (Tests, ODIs, T20Is), as of November 2022. Before his international umpiring career began in 2006, he had represented Boland (1988-89–1996-97), as an all-rounder, in 53 first-class and 54 List A matches in the South African domestic circuit. In these matches, he scored a combined total of 2,235 runs and aggregated 179 wickets.

Born Name

Marais Erasmus

Nick Name

Marais

Sun Sign

Pisces

Born Place

George, Western Cape Province, South Africa

Residence

Cape Town, Western Cape Province, South Africa

Nationality

Education

Marais had attended the Hoërskool D.F. Malan Bellville, a public Afrikaans medium co-educational high school in Boston Estate, a suburb of Bellville, a town in the Western Cape Province.

After his high school graduation, he joined Stellenbosch University, a public research university in Stellenbosch, another town in the Western Cape Province.

Occupation

Cricket Umpire, Cricketer (Retired)

Batting

Right-Handed

Bowling

Right-Arm Fast-Medium

Role

All-Rounder

Build

Average

Height

5 ft 9 in or 175 cm

Weight

85 kg or 187.5 lbs

Girlfriend / Spouse

Marais has dated –

1. Adéle Erasmus – Through his long-term marriage to Adéle, Marais has twin sons named Chris and Geo.

Race / Ethnicity

White

Hair Color

Salt-and-Pepper

Eye Color

Blue

Sexual Orientation

Straight

Distinctive Features

• Stocky frame
• Short-cropped hair
• Clean-shaven look
• Cheerful smile
• Puffy face

Marais Erasmus Facts

1. The best batting performance of Marais’ playing career was against Warwickshire County Cricket Club, an English domestic team that had visited South Africa in the 1991-92 season. He scored 103 runs not out batting at number 7 in Boland’s second innings having scored 51 runs not out in the first.
2. His best bowling performance was also against a touring side. He recorded sensational figures of 6/22 against New Zealand in the 1994-95 season. His performance went in vain, however, as the match had to be abandoned early because the pitch at the Boland Bank Park (a multi-purpose stadium in Paarl, a town in the Western Cape Province) was deemed, by the officiating umpires, to be ‘too dangerous’ to continue the game.
3. He began umpiring in first-class cricket in South Africa in the 2002-03 season and eventually stood in his first international match in February 2006.
4. He was appointed to the International Panel of ICC (International Cricket Council) Umpires in an on-field capacity in 2008. He was promoted to the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires (the top-tier of umpires in international cricket, considered to be a level above the International Panel of ICC Umpires) in 2010 where he replaced fellow South African Rudi Koertzen who was about to retire.
5. In the 2011 edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup, he stood in the quarter-final match between the host, India, and the defending champion, Australia. In the subsequent edition of the tournament (2015), he stood in the opening match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand, as well as the quarter-final between Pakistan and Australia. He was also the TV umpire in the final match between the co-hosts Australia and New Zealand.
6. In 2016, he won the prestigious ‘David Shepherd Trophy’, awarded annually since 2004 by the ICC to the best international umpire of the year. He was just the 5th umpire to have received this award after Simon Taufel (2004-2008) of Australia, Aleem Dar (2009-2011) of Pakistan, Kumar Dharmasena (2012) of Sri Lanka, and Richard Kettleborough of England (2013-2015). He won the award again in 2017 and 2021 and remains, as of November 2022, the only South African to have achieved this feat.
7. In the 2017 edition of the ICC Champions Trophy, he stood in the semi-final between the host, England, and Pakistan; as well as in the final match between arch-rivals India and Pakistan.
8. In the 2019 edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup, he stood in the semi-final match between the host, England, and the defending champion, Australia. He was also one of the 2 on-field umpires in the final match between England and New Zealand.
9. He then stood in the final of both the 2021 and 2022 editions of the ICC World T20.
10. In January 2023, as an on-field square leg umpire, Marais Erasmus forgot to watch a delivery in an ODI match between South Africa and England as he was looking in the opposite direction. It was England’s 25th over and Jason Roy was on strike.

Featured Image by Marais Erasmus / Instagram