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.’ email us at [email protected] contact us on 0121 446 2710 25