Dickie Bird

Harold Dennis Bird, better known as Dickie Bird, was born on April 19, 1933 in Yorkshire. He was a school dropout and worked in a coal mine in his early days. Dickies first passion was football, which he had to stop playing after suffering an injury. He then took to cricket and started playing county cricket in his early career in Barnsley. Later, he was signed up with his home county, Yorkshire. Dickie Bird first officiated at a test match between England and New Zealand in Yorkshire. He continued as an umpire for three World Cup finals in 1975, 1979 and 1983. He has umpired in 69 One Day Internationals. He received the Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2012 for his contributions to cricket. He was given a guard of honor by the Indian and English players in his last test match in 1996. Later, Yorkshire announced that Bird is to be voted in as the clubs president at their Annual General Meeting on 29 March, 2014.