Playing Days
When a knee injury put paid to playing football professionally, he followed his second love, cricket. In his early career in Barnsley, he played club cricket in the same team as Geoff Boycott, and journalist and chat show host Michael Parkinson, who became a lifelong friend. In 1956, Bird signed up with his home county, Yorkshire. Boycott has spoken highly of Bird's ability as a batsman, but feels that his attempt to forge a career as a county cricketer were hampered by his inability to control his nerves. Between 1956 and 1964, Bird played first-class cricket as a batsman for Yorkshire and Leicestershire in the English County Championship. After his county career, he coached and played league cricket before becoming an umpire.
Read more about this topic: Dickie Bird
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