Dickie Bird Dickie Bird Harold Dennis "Dickie" Bird, (born 19 April 1933, Staincross, West Riding of Yorkshire, England) is a retired English international cricket umpire. In February 2014, Yorkshire announced that Bird is to be voted in as the club's president at their Annual General Meeting on 29 March. The son of a miner, he gained the nickname 'Dickie' at school. He lives in the South Yorkshire village of Staincross. Bird failed his 11-plus and went to Raley Secondary Modern School, leaving in 1948 at the age of 15. For a while, he worked at a coal mine on the surface, but
David Shepherd (umpire) 1979, Shepherd decided against becoming a coach, and decided to become an umpire instead. He began his second career in cricket, and the one which was to make him world-famous, when he was appointed as a first-class umpire in 1981. Quickly recognised as being one of the fairest-minded and most able officials in the game, within two years he was part of the umpiring panel for the 1983 World Cup, and within four he was standing in his first Test: the fourth Test of the 1985 Ashes series at Old Trafford. Standing with him in this test was Dickie Bird.