New Delhi, April 6 (IANS) Noted cricket writer Trevor Chesterfield, 75, died in Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, where he had been based.

Chesterfield, a former first-class umpire, authored many books including the biography of South African fast bowler Fanie de Villiers.

He had been living and working in Sri Lanka for several years and even covered the just concluded World Cup.

"On Wednesday morning he fell off his bed while asleep and was taken to the hospital in Moratuwa but is believed to have died on the way," Cricinfo reported.

"Owen Murray Trevor Chesterfield, or "Chesters", as he was known, was one of the true eccentrics in cricket journalism and was obsessed with the sport -- his e-mail handle was lbwbambrose, a nickname given to him by Bob Woolmer and a reference to the limp he was afflicted with following an accident."

Chesterfield lived a global life. He was born in New Zealand before moving to South Africa, where he umpired and wrote on cricket. He finally settled down in Sri Lanka.

"He found time for a reporting stint in Vietnam during the war -- he would speak of reading Cardus in the trenches, and of trying to attract his American colleagues to an alien game," Cricinfo said.