Legendary umpire 'Dickie' Bird passes away at 92
CHENNAI: In a non-third umpire era he was a legend. Harold ‘Dickie’ Bird was the gold standard for accuracy of decisions and considered a man of great integrity. Players respected him and never doubted his judgement. His popularity ran beyond cricket as he was a favourite of spectators as well.
It all will now be part of fond memories as Bird passed away on Tuesday at the age of 92. The former Yorkshire cricketer officiated in 66 Tests and 69 ODIs. The Englishman officiated in the three World Cup finals including the 1983 summit clash where India shocked the mighty West Indies to lift the trophy.
Syed Kirmani, former Indian wicketkeeper-batter, was part of the winning squad captained by Kapil Dev. Condoling the demise, 75-year-old Kirmani said Bird was the world's best umpire in their time and era. "He was such a friendly and a very jovial umpire. He was very straight forward and genuine," Kirmani told this daily. Incidentally Bird's last Test was the 1996 Lord's match between India and England in which former captains Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid made their debut in the longest format.
Kirmani shared an interesting anecdote involving Bird. "During the 1983 WC final, when Ballu (Balwinder Sandhu) came out to bat, he was the last man and I was at the non-striker's end. Malcolm Marshall bowled a bouncer to Ballu and it hit him on his helmet, so Bird fired the hell out of the legendary West Indies pacer. The umpire made him apologise to Ballu for bowling the very first delivery as a bouncer. He brought Marshall to Ballu and I was there by then as I had run up to Ballu to ask if he was feeling alright as he was rubbing the helmet instead of his head. I asked him to take his helmet out. In the meantime, Bird brought Marshall to Ballu. He then said 'say sorry to Ballu'. And Marshall said 'Oh maan, I didn't mean to hit you'."
Kirmani also said that Bird used to trust him a lot and even sought his advice before reaching a decision. "It will surprise quite a few of them who will listen to my comments that Bird was so confident in my appeals or judgements from behind the wickets or as a non-striker that sometimes he used to consult me before taking a final call. It's not only during the 83 World Cup but also when India played against England in England. He knew that I would appeal only when it's 99.99 per cent out. He had that kind of regard for my appeal. As a non-striker, if a batter has nicked or it has gone past him or it has gone through his pad or shirt, he would check with me. What was that, he will ask. Is it out or not out or it has gone by? I would guide him on that. He had all that trust in me."
Bird started his first-class career with Yorkshire in 1956. In his eight-year County career which was cut short by injuries, he scored 3,314 runs from 93 matches with two hundreds. He was honoured with an MBE in 1986 and an OBE in 2012 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to cricket.
The former umpire was also a favourite of spectators for his accurate decisions and idiosyncrasies like arriving for the match at 6 in the morning. Famously during a 1974 Test match at the Old Trafford against England, Bird gave India legend Sunil Gavaskar a haircut as the player's hair was getting into his eyes. He used to keep a pair of scissors with him to cut threads from the ball's seam and used the same to trim Gavaskar's hair.