Umpire Erasmus records ODI century

Paarl (South Africa): Seasoned bumpire Marais Erasmus on Wednesday became only the third South African toofficiate in 100 One-Day International matches.
The 57-year-old Erasmus, who joined RudiKoertzen (209 ODIs) and David Orchard (107ODIs), achieved the milestone during the firstODI between India and South Africa here atthe Boland Park.
Erasmus, who has been umpiring at the highest level since 2007, has so far stood in 70 Tests, 35men’s T20Is and 18 women’s T20Is.
“I’m very proud to have survived long enough to get to this milestone,” Erasmus told CricketSouth Africa on the eve of the match.
“It’s a tough environment to survive because we’re under scrutiny all the time, so to have gottenthrough that period fills me with pride.
“We’re all servants of the game, but sometimes when milestone are reached, we’re recognised,which is really nice,” he added.
Erasmus further said that recording 100 ODIs was never something he thought about when hisjourney first began in a match between Kenya and Canada in Nairobi on October 18, 2007.
“When you start out, you never look that far ahead,” he explained. “It’s obviously a new thingand you try to enjoy those moments, which is what I’ve done.
“But as you get on to the third and fourth and fifth year, you naturally then think about reaching50 or whatever landmark is closest. So getting 100 is fantastic, but it’s not part of the goal-setting. You just want to be there and do the best job you possibly can.”
The umpire conceded that Test cricket is the most gruelling and can be tough on the officials too.
“Umpiring Test matches are definitely more challenging because of the length of games and thetype of pressures that go with it,” he said. “Therefore, it’s far more taxing, but that’s not to saythat ODIs and T20Is aren’t.
“With the limited overs, if you’ve a bad day you know you don’t have to be on the field tomorrow,but with a Test you know you’ve to come back and that’s just psychologically challenging,especially if you’ve a bad start. You know it can be a long five days.
“They all bring different challenges, the different formats, but I’ve enjoyed everything aboutinternational cricket so far. I’m really motivated to continue. I’ll be 58 next month and I’m still

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