TRIBUTES TO LEGEND DICKIE BIRD

Sport mourns for national treasure

- BY LUCY THORNTON

DICKIE Bird has died aged 92 - but as cricket's most beloved umpire knew all too well, even the greatest innings have to come to an end.

The idea of a sporting official becoming a national treasure is unusual but, over 28 years in the long white coat, he managed it.

Partly, this was due to his excellence at the job - “They all rated me the best,” he once said, listing cricketing greats including Viv Richards and Ian Botham.

But it was also due to his down-to-Earth humour and larger-than-life personality. His great pal Michael Parkinson described him as a character only Shakespeare could invent, “full of life's rich juices”.