Former South Africa Cricketer Elriesa Theunissen-Fourie passed away in a tragic car crash over the weekend, reports BBC. South African police has revealed that the 25-year-old died in a motor car accident in Stilfontein, a mining town in North West Province of South Africa. The life of her child was also lost in the accident which happened on Friday.
Remembering Elriesa Theunissen-Fourie
Theunissen- Flourie represented South Africa in three one-day internationals and one Twenty20 international cricket matches. The all-rounder was also a member of the 2013 World Cup squad. She last played against Bangladesh in the home series in 2013. Provincially, she represented the North West Dragons and was very active at grassroots level, coaching at the local community hub until she had to take maternity leave ahead of the birth of her first child, says CSA's report.
Cricket South Africa chief executive Thabang Moroe paid tribute to the late cricketer saying “"This is a dreadful tragedy in the true sense of that word. "This is devastating news for all of us,” further adding, “Elriesa did so much for the community in which she lived and gave excellent service both as a national player of note and in the work she did at grassroots level to help in the less fortunate communities.
On behalf of the CSA family, I extend our deepest sympathy to her husband, Rudy, her family, friends and all her cricketing colleagues."
Tributes on Social Media:
International Cricket Council (ICC) tweeted a tribute to Elriesa Theunissen-Fourie from their official twitter handle, "Elriesa Theunissen-Fourie, who played three ODIs and one T20I for South Africa, has tragically died at the age of 25. May she rest in peace."
Elriesa Theunissen-Fourie, who played three ODIs and one T20I for South Africa, has tragically died at the age of 25. May she rest in peace.https://t.co/8bM0ECMSJZ
— ICC (@ICC) April 7, 2019
Sipokazi Sokanyile, media relations officer at CSA tweeted, "#RIPElriesa One of the sweetest and kindest women in the game."
#RIPElriesa One of the sweetest and kindest women in the game. 🙏🏽 https://t.co/CfZGs6rIoW
— Sipokazi Sokanyile (@Syfokazi) April 6, 2019
CSA also played tribute to the former cricketer in a tweet which said, "#CSAnews CSA shocked by tragic passing of Elriesa Theunissen-Fourie."
#CSAnews CSA shocked by tragic passing of Elriesa Theunissen-Fourie https://t.co/TiMQMFroCf #RIPElriesa pic.twitter.com/n0yRIs5uJR
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) April 6, 2019
Captian of South Africa's women's cricket team Dane van Niekerk paid her tribute on Instagram, writing, "Horrible news today.. Condolences to Elrissa's family and friends/ team mates... 🙏🏻 I reckon we should start to count our blessings in life... Beautiful soul taken.."
Picture Credit : Twitter/@OfficialCSA