Dickie Bird's Britain [Hardcover]

"Only Shakespeare could have invented a character so full of life's rich juices as Dickie Bird. Cricket's genius has been to accommodate his foibles and celebrate his humour. My delight has been in knowing him for all these years. - Michael Parkinson

With humour and affection Dickie Bird travels around Britain and details what he loves best about it. Some of those Dickie meets on his travels are celebrities who, like him, have reached the top of their professions - sports heroes such as Sir Steve Redgrave or media stars like Rory Bremner - but so many more are ordinary, but very special folk - Macmillan nurses, or the proprietor of his favourite Pennine transport cafe. Each encounter reminds him of some ripe anecdote from his 30 years behind the stumps. But everywhere he goes the nation's favourite umpire manages to bring out the best in the people he encounters, with his quirky curiosity and unerring ability to winkle out the genuine individualists and the passionately committed who make up the many faceted face of Britain in the 21st century.

Born in 1933, the son of a miner, Dickie Bird has spent a life 'married to cricket'. He was signed up to play for Yorkshire at age 19, and played on the county circuit for the next 13 years. In 1979 he became a Test match umpire. The announcement that he would umpire his final Test at Lord's in June 1996 signalled the end of an international career which has won him worldwide affection as the finest umpire in cricket history.