Association of Cricket Officials Issue 28 | Page 25
Dickie Bird Exhibition
To most of us he is the enigmatic
umpire and cricket legend, but a new
Dickie Bird exhibition in his home town
of Barnsley brings together
memorabilia and memories of a
distinguished career. After 93 First
Class matches, in which he scored over
3,000 runs with a top score of 181*, Bird
stood in his first county game in 1970.
He then went on to officiate in a then
record 66 Test matches and 69 ODIs,
including four World Cup finals.
The exhibition features a huge array of
souvenirs from his exploits on the field,
including a vast collection of medals,
the contents of his match-day bag and
quotes from famous players. Off the
field, Dickie has collected the
invitations and even the menus of his
visits to see the Queen and numerous
Prime Ministers. Famed for his deep
fear of lateness, supposedly he once
arrived at Buckingham Palace at 5am!
Funniest umpiring incident: ‘Merv
Hughes in a Test match at Headingley,
England versus Australia. Merv was
bowling to Graeme Hick who kept
playing and missing, and Merv Hughes’
language was terrible. As he walked
past me to bowl the next ball I sai d to
him, “Merv, have you got a minute?” I
said to him, “Merv, I want you to be a
good lad, I want you to stop swearing”
and he looked at me and said, “Dickie
Bird, you’re a legend…I will never
swear again”. He walked back to his
mark, ran in and bowled the next ball.
Graeme Hick played and missed, and
I’ve never heard language like it in all
my life! I made him a good lad for all
of 10 seconds!’
Thoughts on ECB ACO: ‘I have a lot of
respect for ECB ACO, I think you play
a tremendous part in bringing young
umpires along. We didn’t have
anything like that in our day. I think
ECB ACO are doing a wonderful job,
bringing youngsters along. When I was
introduced to Oliver [Cunningham]
today it gives me a lot of pleasure to
see young umpires coming through
like that. It’s marvellous and ECB ACO
are just doing a wonderful job.’
On being President of Yorkshire CCC:
‘It was tremendous for me, I never
thought in my humblest of dreams
that I would become President of
Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
The son of a Barnsley coal miner
becoming the President of Yorkshire
County Cricket Club…never in my
wildest dreams! It was a great
honour to be President, and to get
back-to-back championships, I
was very proud.’
We sent members of South Yorkshire
ACO along to ‘Dickie Bird: My Life in
Cricket’ to find out more, and sat down
with the man himself to have a chat
about all things umpiring, the
highlights of which are below.
Advice for all officials: ‘If I can give any
advice to any young umpires who are
coming through, or any umpire, it is to
enjoy it. That’s the main thing…enjoy it.
Enjoyment of the game.’
Tips for aspiring officials: ‘I would say
this to young umpires…umpiring is
common sense, gaining respect of the
players because whatever business
you’re in and whatever job you do,
you’ve got to gain respect. You can’t
buy respect, you’ve got to earn it.’
Pre-season preparation: ‘I trained at
Barnsley Football Club with the
professionals, especially my 50 yard
and 100 yard sprints, so I could be in
my position for run outs. Fitness is a
massive part of umpiring – I kept myself
fit because if you are physically fit you
are mentally fit. This helps with
concentration, which is important for
any official in whatever sport they are in.’
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