1983 Cricket World Cup Final Umpire Dickie Bird Dies At 92

Born on 19 April 1933 in Barnsley, Yorkshire, Dickie Bird’s life was defined by his unwavering dedication to cricket. Bird also officiated in the first two men's Cricket World Cup finals in 1975 and 1979. He officiated in 66 Tests and 76 one-day internationals in a storied career.

Bird had a long association with Yorkshire, starting his first-class career with the county in 1956, and before ending his career in 1964, Bird made 3,314 runs from 93 matches with two hundreds. Bird was appointed an MBE in 1986 and an OBE in 2012 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to cricket, and formed a famous on field alliance with countryman late David Shepherd, who died in 2009.

Bird was also a favourite with the spectators and the players alike for the accuracy of his decisions and idiosyncrasies which included arriving at the match venue as early as 6 am. In fact, Bird’s last Test was the 1996 Lord’s Test between India and England in which former skippers Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly made their debut in the traditional format.

During a 1974 Test match at Old Trafford against England, Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar got a haircut from Bird because his hair kept getting into his eyes. The Englishman used a pair of scissors he kept to cut threads from the ball's seam to trim Gavaskar's hair mid-match, later exclaiming: "What all umpires need to carry."

But Bird was always a likeable figure on the field, and the best players of his time held him in high esteem. "They all rated me the best: Sobers, Richards, Lillee and Botham. That means a lot I can tell you," he had admitted once.

Bird remained unmarried but made some great friend circles including late Queen Elizabeth, frequenting to her tea parties, writer Stephen King and a generation of British Prime Ministers such as John Major.

Bird wrote two best-sellers — My Autobiography with Keith Lodge and The White Cap and Bails. After retiring from umpiring, Bird kept himself active through quiz sessions, after-dinner talks and chat shows, which were highly entertaining.

(With inputs from PTI)