Dickie Bird
Harold Dennis "Dickie" Bird, OBE (born 19 April 1933), is an English former cricketer and retired international cricket umpire. During his long umpiring career, he became a much-loved figure among players and viewing public, due to his excellence as an umpire, but also his many eccentricities.
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Harold Dennis Bird | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 19 April 1933 Barnsley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Dickie | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm off-break | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Batsman, Umpire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1956–1959 | Yorkshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1960–1964 | Leicestershire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FC debut | 16 May 1956 Yorkshire v Scotland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last FC | 12 August 1964 Leicestershire v Essex | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LA debut | 1 May 1963 Leicestershire v Lancashire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last LA | 27 May 1964 Leicestershire v Northamptonshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Umpiring information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tests umpired | 66 (1973–1996) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODIs umpired | 69 (1973–1995) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricketArchive, 19 August 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bird played first-class cricket for Yorkshire and Leicestershire as a right-handed batsman, but only scored two centuries in 93 appearances. His career was blighted by a knee injury, which eventually forced him to retire aged 31. He umpired in 66 Test matches (at the time a world record) and 69 One Day Internationals, including 3 World Cup Finals.
In February 2014, Yorkshire announced that Bird was to be voted in as the club's president at their Annual General Meeting on 29 March.
Bird's autobiography, published in 1997, has sold more than a million copies.