JULY 21, 2019 • THE WEEK 51Yorkshireman. “He picks the line and
length quicker than anybody else,”
says Bird. “I love watching him bat.”
As the decision review system
(DRS) overturns an umpiring call
in the India-Sri Lanka match, the
conversation turns to technology in
cricket. His dislike for technologi-
cal innovations in the game is well
known, but he has come to grudging-
ly accept some of them. “Technology
has taken over umpiring. So it is
difficult to judge who the best um-
pire is,” he says. “It is a great shame. It
has taken away all authority from the
umpires. [But,] we have to live with
it because it is here to stay.” Surely,
DRS and ultra edge help when the
stadium is so noisy? He smiles and
responds, “Yes there is a lot of noise
here, but I do not think it is as much
as in Calcutta!” Bird has officiated in
stadiums like Eden Gardens in the
pre-DRS era and his decisions were
rarely questioned. But, he believes
that debates over umpiring are good
for the game and that aspect has
been taken away by technology.
However, he does give credit to tech-
nology in deciding run-outs.
Bird is very proud of the fact that
he never had to exchange a “cross
word” with any player. “You have
to earn your respect,” he says. He
recounts an incident with the fiery
Australian pacer Merv Hughes dur-
ing an Ashes match. “Hughes was a
great character,” says Bird. “He was
bowling to Graeme Hick, who was
playing and missing, and Hughes’s
language was not very good. I told
him, ‘I want you to be a good boy,
stop swearing.’ He said to me, ‘Dickie
Bird, you are a legend. I won’t swear
again.’ The next ball, Hick played
and missed, and I have never knownlanguage like that in my life!”
An advocate of upholding the spirit
of the game, Bird says, “Play hard,
but do not go overboard.” About the
Mankading debate, he says: “I think
that (Mankading) is going too far.
Yes, it is within the laws of the game,
but I would ask the fielding captain
whether he wants that dismissal. If
he says yes, then I would give out.” As
a former administrator, Bird is prag-
matic about changes in the game and
he is not willing to condemn 100-ball
cricket, despite furious criticism of
the impending format from purists
in England. Watch it and then react,
he says.
Bird suffered a stroke in 2009, but
recovered fully. The bachelor was
alone at home when it happened,
and the experience left him shak-
en. Home is a 16th century cottage
in Barnsley with four bedrooms,
one with a garden, overlooking the
Pennines mountain ranges. He has
lived there for 50 years, but makes
it a point not to become a recluse.
The octogenarian is wealthy thanks
to his massively successful book,
Dickie Bird: My Autobiography, and
plans to leave behind a fortune for
child health care. He gets emotional
while speaking about children with
congenital diseases. Bird is also the
proud owner of a Jaguar. Why? Be-
cause it is a British car!It (technology) has taken away
all authority from the umpires.
[But,] we have to live with
it because it is here to stay.
—Dickie Bird
former umpireNEERU BHATIA