Dickie Bird

Dickie Bird Biography

Nobody addressed Harold Dennis Bird by his first name. In fact, very few knew what it was.

There have been greater umpires, but few as popular as Dickie Bird. While he had his numerous idiosyncrasies, there was no doubt that he was one of the most accurate umpires of the era. He seldom erred, was respected by opposition cricketers in an era predating neutral umpires, and was almost never reduced to helplessness.

More importantly, Bird made umpiring glamorous the way no one had done before him. Till then umpires — even legends like Frank Chester — were mere custodians of the sport of varying qualities. Bird’s popularity was no less than the cricketers; at times he even outdid the cricketers.

That white cap made him instantly recognisable, as were his characteristic stretching exercises during matches. He was notorious for stopping play, and the reasons included streakers, airplanes flying above the ground, and even too much sunlight. They barracked, but when Bird decided to come off, nobody dared to stop him — for deep down they all respected him.

Bird stood in 66 Tests. Till the turn of the millennium — when neutral umpires came into vogue — nobody else had officiated in more than 54 Tests.

Bird also officiated in 54 ODIs including the first four World Cup finals. Before the fourth final in Calcutta, Allan Border insisted Bird was an umpire despite England being the opposition side. Yes, Bird was good enough for Border to opt for Bird ahead of a neutral umpire. It was hardly surprising, for there had been instances where touring sides demanded Bird’s presence in the Tests.

There were stories aplenty, some true, some unverified. His famous cap was snatched amidst the commotion of the 1975 World Cup final by a West Indian fan. He later saw a bus commentator donning it; the commentator proudly admitted that he had taken it from Bird’s head.

When a spectator once barracked Bird for signalling a wide, Bird immediately took his coat off and offered it to the man in the crowd.

His no-ball, a cross between a shriek and a yell, once influenced a batsman from a neighbouring match to play a false stroke.

He handled the fiery West Indian fast bowlers with ridiculous ease. They even cut down on their bouncers at his insistence, as did Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson. He dealt with a potential fight between Sarfraz Nawaz and Tony Greig — both volatile characters — making sure there was no unpleasant scene.

There were embarrassing moments too. On one occasion he miscounted overs, and allowed Abdul Qadir to bowl an 11th over in a 50-over match. The match had to be stopped and the two balls annulled. On another occasion in Sharjah, a dehydrated Bird had to be carried away by West Indian fielders.

He was stumped — pun not intended — when a woman ran on to the ground only in her panties and slid the bails inside. A policewoman had to intervene. There was another instance where a woman demanded to be kissed by Bird.

Bird remains single. “I’m married to cricket” continues to remain his usual response whenever the topic is raised.

He turned down offers to officiate in South Africa as well as in Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket.

And before all this happened, he was good enough to play 93 First-Class matches, mostly for Yorkshire and Leicestershire, though his 3,314 runs came at a mere 21.

They named a racehorse after him. His autobiography became a bestseller. He was a renowned after-dinner speaker. He was presented with an MBE.

Abhishek Mukherjee

Dickie Bird Batting & Fielding Averages

Career	M	In	R	NO	HS	Avg	BF	SR	100s	50s	4s	6s	Ct	St
Test	0	--	--	--		--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
ODIs	0	--	--	--		--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
T20s	0	--	--	--		--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
World Cup	0	--	--	--		--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--

Dickie Bird Bowling Averages

Career	M	B	R	W	Avg	EC	SR	5WI	10WM	BBI	BBM
Test	0	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
ODIs	0	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
T20s	0	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
World Cup	0	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--		--

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