Francois Weideman

Izak Francois Nel Weideman (19 September 1960 - 4 June 2001) was a South African first-class cricketer who played for Transvaal and Northern Transvaal in the Currie Cup.

A right-arm fast-medium bowler, Weideman made his first-class debut on 9 December 1980, playing for South African Universities against Northern Transvaal. He had been studying at Rand Afrikaans University.^[1] For the rest of the 1980/81 season he played for Transvaal B in the SAB Bowl and also made one appearance for their Currie Cup team. He competed in the SAB Bowl for the entirety of 1981/82, unable to earn promotion to Clive Rice's side. In 1982/83, Transvaal won the Currie Cup and Weideman took part in three fixtures.^[2]

In 1983/84 he made the move to Northern Transvaal and would be a regular member of their senior side, taking a total of 48 wickets at 28.77 and a further 19 wickets for Northern Transvaal B. It was with Northern Transvaal that he took the only two five wicket hauls of his career. His best innings figures, 6-43, were made against Eastern Province in 1985.^[3]

After retiring he worked for the South African Cricket Union, as part of a development program aimed at disadvantaged communities.

Weideman later found employment as a greenskeeper at the CMR Golf Course in Maraisburg and was killed there in 2001 during a robbery attempt. He was shot in the neck, stomach and leg.^[4]

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