Brian and Roxanne de Jager are a married couple and action cricket umpires at Randburg Action Sports Arena in Fontainebleau.
They oversee action cricket matches at the arena as high as Superleague cricket Gauteng level (competition between arenas across Gauteng), despite Roxanne being about seven months pregnant.
Brian used to play action cricket for Gauteng, and when he retired from the sport, he decided to take up umpiring.
“I do this for the love of the game,” he said.
“When you’ve had a big game and get it right the whole time there is nothing better in the world.”
His wife Roxanne did not play the sport but began umpiring two years ago just to join Brian at something he did.
She found she enjoyed umpiring.
“I enjoy the atmosphere, the players and [the fact that] this is not an office job,” she explained.
Meagan Derman, manager of the arena, said she appreciates the umpiring pair.
“Brian is one of our top umpires that we have here,” she said.
“In the past, we have had difficulty getting umpires to umpire on both Wednesday and Thursday nights so when they came around and offered their service, we took them in with open arms.”
Details: Randburg Action Sports Arena 011 792 6313; randburgactionsport@gmail.com
