Dickie Bird

The son of a miner, he was born in Barnsley on 19 April 1933 and gained the nickname "Dickie" at school. Always very interested in sport, he dreamt of playing football professionally, and when a knee injury put paid to that, he followed his second love, cricket.

Dickie played for Barnsley cricket club where he met a lifelong friend, future chat show[?] host Michael Parkinson[?], and in 1956, he signed up with his home county, Yorkshire. Three years later, fed up with always being twelfth man[?], he transfered to Leicestershire. This move he has since called the "worst mistake of my life" and it was only a few years before he retired, admittedly from a fairly unsuccessful first-class playing career.

Then in 1970 he became an umpire and three years later officiated at his first test match[?] and began really making a name for himself. Calm and entirely impartial when in the field (off it he was a huge Yorkshire supporter), but willing to joke with players, which often dispelled tension. In short he was beloved by cricketers and fans, though he gained a reputation for stopping play for weather and not giving batsmen out lbw[?].

Dickie was given an MBE in 1986 and later received honourary doctorates from Leeds and Sheffield Hallam[?] universities.

At the begining his sixty-sixth and final test in 1996, the two teams - India and England - formed a "guard of honour" as he came out and he received a standing ovation from the crowd. Two years later came his last county match, and since then he has appeared on quiz- and chat-shows and become an author, with his autobiography being the best-selling sports book of all time.