Murdered Vorster once played for Worcs

By Paul Bolton

Louis Vorster, who was shot dead by armed robbers at a petrol station between Pretoria and Johannesburg, was a batsman who played one first-class match for Worcestershire against the West Indies at New Road in 1988.

Vorster, 45, also played county second XI cricket for Worcestershire in 1988 as well as for Warwickshire in 1987. He enjoyed a long and varied first-class career that began with his debut for Transvaal B against Eastern Province B at the Wanderers in 1985 and ended in October 2009 during a spell as player/coach with Namibia in October 2009.

Vorster played first-class cricket for ten different sides in four countries and scored almost 2,000 runs in 95 matches, including seven centuries. His highest score was 188 for Northern Transvaal B against Orange Free State B in 1993. His only appearance for Worcestershire came in a rain-blighted tour match dominated by Graeme Hick’s 172.

Vorster, who worked as a cattle and game farmer, was shot dead on Tuesday, April 17. Gauteng police said Vorster was leaving a filling station when a gold Volkswagen with two men inside blocked his way.

One of the men walked up to him and fired a shot at him, while the other went to the passenger side of his vehicle and grabbed a bag before they fled the scene. "He was declared dead at the scene," said Lt-Col Tshisikhwawe Ndou, adding that a murder case had been opened.