The world lost some legends these past few days – the iconic Hollywood actor and filmmaker Robert Redford, the legendary Kannada novelist SL Bhyrappa and the Assamese music icon, Zubeen Garg. But the obituary we choose to feature was a one-of-a-kind superstar, a cricket umpire – Dickie Bird. We thought it is apt, given the sham that the Indian and Pakistani cricketers played out in the name of sport earlier this week. Dickie wouldn’t have approved of it and instead rapped them on the knuckles for the ungentlemanly behaviour in the gentleman’s game.
Sriram Veera reminds us about why Dickie was the most loved and respected umpire there was: “As an umpire, he was loved and respected by players across generations, and he was known to defuse prickly situations with quirky humour and natural ease. He was a safe umpire, who rarely gave LBWs unless he was doubly sure, but even the bowlers loved him as he was deemed very fair.
…Just as he defused tense situations, be it with an angry Dennis Lillee or an irate Javed Miandad, he also chatted with crowds, keeping them calm. Such was the respect he had within the cricketing fraternity that, before his final Test in 1996, he was given a guard of honour on the outfield at Lord’s by the India and England players.”
Veera puts out a few nuggets of Dickie’s life in humour worth reading and ends up wondering:
“Above all, this fidgety character had his way with fiery fast bowlers. Once he rebuked the Australian Merv Hughes for cursing relentlessly at England batsman Graeme Hick. A startled Merv replied, “Dickie Bird, you are a legend” — and stopped the cussing.
As the news of Bird’s passing spread, one couldn’t help but wonder how he would have handled the volatile India-Pakistan matches at the Asia Cup. If anyone could have defused the tinderbox situation, reminding the players to behave themselves, it would have been him.”
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