Dickie Bird, the man who defused the chaos of the cricket with charm and spirit, dies at 92

Harold “Dickie” Bird, the most loved referee in the history of cricket and the first world official icon of the game, died at 92, closing a chapter on one of the most remarkable characters in sport.

The son of a coal minor from Yorkshire, Bird challenged his roots after his father urged him at 14: “You are going to practice sport to earn your life – you do not go down in the coal mine.” He played 93 county games for Yorkshire before becoming a test referee, in 66 games from 1973 to 1996.

Known for its white cap, its sweater always present attached to the waist, and its pockets of counters and ball plaster, Bird was a soothing presence in a volatile sport. He was eccentric but commander, famous with LBWS, and loved through generations – from Dennis Lillee to Javed Miandad, whom he often disarms with mind and warmth.

He once cut Sunil Gavaskar’s hair in the middle of the match. Another time, he interrupted the game when the glare of a window distracted a drummer. And during a fear of the bomb in Lord’s in 1973, he sat down to the top of the covers, keeping the ground – his most emblematic photograph.

The players gave him an honor guard at Lord’s during his last test in 1996. However, Bird never married. “Brought closer twice, but I saw suitcases,” he said one day. “It wouldn’t have been fair.”

He was also a gifted storyteller. On the discs of the Desert Islands of the BBC, he remembers showing up at the oval in Dawn during his beginnings in arbitration – Bag threw the wall – only to be interrupted by a police officer. “To tell you the truth, officer, I know you don’t believe me …” he says.

In a recent ITV documentary, Bird broke alongside his statue in Barnsley – placed in the exact place he was born. “My father died because of the dust in his chest,” he said. “On his deathbed, I told him that I would become a referee. He has never seen me a referee. But the world has done it. “