Cricket is one of the oldest and friendliest games and is also known as a gentlemen’s game. Cricketers are hardworking and take their careers very seriously, but even after many precautions, there have been dark times in this sports industry when some cricketers have gotten murdered. These are the names of a few of them:
1. Louis Vorster
Louis was born in Potchefstroom. He was a left-handed batsman and a right-arm-off-break bowler. On July 1, 1983, Vorster made his debut for Albatross and scored a duck. Louis was killed during an armed robbery on April 17, 2012, outside Pretoria at the young age of 45.
2. Norman Reid
On December 26, 1890, Reid was a South African cricketer who only played one Test for South Africa in 1921. Norman was born in Cape Town and studied at Oriel College, Oxford, where he was awarded a rugby union blue in 1912 and 1913. He served in the First World War with the Imperial Light Horse before transferring to the Royal Field Artillery in France. Norman died in 1947 under tragic circumstances, as described by Wisden Obituary. Further research revealed that his mentally ill wife murdered him and killed herself later.
3. Jeff Stollmeyer
Jeff died in a hospital on September 10, 1989, in Florida at the age of 68 after being shot five times. Beaten by intruders at his house in Spain. Stollmeyer was born in Santa Cruz, Trinidad, and played his first test match when eighteen. Later in life, he became the West Indies Board of Control president from 1974 until 1981.
4. Kuntal Chandra
Kuntal was a right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper, also known as Papon. He was born in Bangladesh in 1984. Chandra first played for Bangladesh under-19s in 2000 and made his debut for Chittagong Division in 2004-2005 against Rajshahi Division. The player was found dead at Dhaka outskirts on December 3, 2012; the body had signs of being beaten, and pieces of cloth had to get stuffed into his mouth. Local police declared that Kuntal died by strangulation.
5. William Haye
On September 15, 1948. William was born in Jamaica. He played seven first-class and two List-A matches and was an excellent fast bowler of Jamaican cricket in the 1970s and 1980s. The player gets shot, and his house gets set on fire on March 18, 2019, where the locals hear loud noises. The Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) got saddened by this tragic incident and decided to honor Haye in the next round of the 2019 Senior Cup.
6. Rajesh Peter
Rajesh played for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy and was an Indian first-class cricketer. He played for the 1981-82 Trophy-winning side as a fast bowler. Peter contributed 67 not out with the bat in an unbroken ninth-wicket partnership of 118 with Rakesh Shukla, as Karnataka chased down 706 for a first-innings lead on the sixth day of the match. At the age of 36, Peter was found dead on November 16, 1995, in Delhi. Although the cause of death is not confirmed, it was assumed to be a homicide.
7. Nezam Hafiz
The World Trade Center attack on September 11 killed Hafiz where he was working as a financial assistant for an insurance company, whose office was on the 94th floor of Tower One. Nezam started playing cricket at an incredibly early age and made his debut in 1988 for Demerara. Can find Nezam’s name on Panel N-6 of the North Pool in New York City.
8. John Commins
John Eugene Commins was a South African cricketer born on November 6, 1941. He played ten first-class matches for Western Province between 1960 and 1969. Commins gets murdered on January 2, 2013, in Cape Town.
9. Muni Lal
Dhir Muni Lal was an Indian first-class cricketer. He was a right-handed opening batsman who played cricket with Southern Punjab and Northern India. His highest score was 90 among the five first-class centuries in the 1937-38 Ranji Trophy. Muni’s nephew Arun Lal also played Test cricket for India. Intruders murdered Lal and his wife during a burglary at his house in 1990.
10. Fiqre Crockwell
Fiqre Salassie Crockwell was a Bermudian cricketer born on July 8, 1985. He was an opening batsman who represented the national team at One Day International. Crockwell has other sporting relatives like FIFA-certified Carlyle McNeil Eugene Crockwell and footballer Mikkail Kristopher Crockwell. Fiqre was found dead on June 20, 2016, in the Pembroke area of Bermuda, where he was fatally wounded.
