Dickie Bird, the heralded former Test cricket umpire beloved across the game, has died at the age of 92.
His passing was announced by Yorkshire Cricket Club, who said in a statement: “It is with profound sadness that The Yorkshire County Cricket Club announces the passing of Harold Dennis “Dickie” Bird MBE OBE, one of cricket’s most beloved figures, who died peacefully at home at the age of 92.
“The thoughts of everyone at the Yorkshire County Cricket Club are with Dickie’s family and friends during this time. He will be truly missed by all at the club having spent an incredible amount of time in support of everyone here and will be remembered as one the greatest characters in Yorkshire’s history.”
Bird set records for the most Test matches (66) and one-day internationals (69) umpired, during a long and storied officiating career which spanned 26 years, and he became perhaps the most popular official in all of sport. His eccentricities added to his charm and made for some memorable anecdotes.
As his great friend, the late journalist and TV host Michael Parkinson, said: “Only Shakespeare could have invented a character so full of life’s rich juices as Dickie Bird. Cricket’s genius has been to accommodate his foibles and celebrate his humour.”
Harold Dennis Bird picked up the nickname “Dickie” at school and it stuck throughout his life. The son of a coal miner, Bird grew up in Barnsley and was proud both of his working-class roots and of his identity as a Yorkshireman, going on to represent his county. His image remains cast in bronze on a high plinth on Barnsley’s Church Lane, where he was born. The statue had to be raised to stop people hanging things – often women’s underwear – on his outstretched finger.
Bird was a handy player who liked to open the batting, but a persistent knee injury disrupted his progress. He recorded two first-class centuries in 93 matches, including 181 not out against Glamorgan at Bradford in 1959, after standing in as an opener for Ken Taylor who was on international duty with England. Despite his giant score, once Taylor returned, Bird lost his place.
He never represented his country, but scored more than 3,000 runs at an average of 20.71 for Yorkshire and Leicestershire, before a four-year stint racking up runs for Paignton and coaching at Plymouth College.
Aged 36, Bird took up umpiring. He took charge of his first county game in 1970 and his first Test match three years later for the visit of New Zealand, at Yorkshire’s home ground, Headingley.
In 1975 he also umpired the first ever Cricket World Cup final, which produced one of his most memorable stories. West Indian fans invaded the pitch after victory and Bird’s wide-brim hat was pinched in the melee. A year later, he spotted it on the head of a London bus driver.
Bird could be a bowler’s nightmare at times, refusing to give out LBW unless absolutely certain. But he was good humoured with a dry wit, and he was respected and well liked by the entire cricket community. Bird was also a great character – or as Sir Ian Botham described him, “barking mad”.
There are many stories of Bird’s unusual approach to his extraordinary life. When he was invited to lunch at Chequers with the cricket-mad prime minister, John Major, Bird was so worried about being late that he drove through the night and arrived at the gates at 7am. Security was bewildered and Major was still in bed, but he was ushered in breakfast. “We ended up having breakfast and lunch together,” Bird recalled. “He sends me a lovely card every Christmas.”
Of his approach to umpiring some of the biggest matches in world cricket, which included three World Cup finals, Bird once said: “I don’t care much about the television cameras. I just give my decisions. As I see it. As you and I see it.”
He later reflected: “If I had to describe myself as an umpire, I’d like to say I was honest and fair. I treated everybody on the field as human beings and as professional cricketers. If I had the respect of the players, then marvellous.”
Bird was given a guard of honour by India and England before his final Test match in 1996, which moved him to tears. His love of cricket never wavered, and he was honoured to become President of Yorkshire CCC in 2014, describing it as the “greatest cricket club in the world”.
His life intertwined with that of his friend Parkinson. They were both coal miners’ sons and played cricket together in Barnsley as children. They remained close throughout their lives, often talking for hours over the telephone, and they shared one last phone call the night before Parkinson died, in August 2023.
“We said our goodbyes,” Bird told the Telegraph. “We shed a few tears. That meant more to me than anything. We had a wonderful friendship … They’ll never be another Parky. Never. I miss him. He was the best. He was the king.”
Bird was deeply religious and attended church on Sundays. He never married, and said: “I’ve had girlfriends – I’m not afraid to admit it – and I nearly married twice. But I never married because in cricket you are never at home. I thought it would never work. It would have been wonderful to have a lad and watch him play. I missed that. But you can’t have everything. I gave myself to cricket, and it has given me a real good life.”
