Sheffield Cricket Lovers' Society Year Book 2023

13 that marked him for distinction. He childishly skipped every time a player or team reached the dreaded 111 or 222; a superstition that took root during his childhood. He tied a matchstick to his finger on Friday 13th to bring good luck and shook hands with himself to signal a four. Whilst there have been controversial moments ‘Shep’ was a complete one-off, and rightly given a guard of honour by the Aussies and Kiwis in 2005. Whilst Shepherd was flamboyant, Dickie Bird was the charismatic one. He was a talented sportsman and actually preferred football to cricket in his youth, but found his true vocation after his playing career ended and a sparkling stint as umpire began. He rarely gave batsmen out LBW and would bring players off at the first spot of rain. Dickie has dined with the Queen and Margaret Thatcher and even bantered with Robert Mugabe before Zimbabwe’s inaugural Test against India. Flanked by militia with machine guns he was able to tell the President that he knew Thatcher well; diplomatic crisis averted! The best match officials are the ones you don’t notice and is a tacit sign they are doing their job properly. Only controversy will make them stand out and cricket umpires generally avoid the pitfalls of officialdom. But reality has inevitably caught up as the ICC has ruled that three of the five match officials must be neutral in Test matches. Even cricket umpires, it seems, are no longer beyond reproach? Dickie Bird as usual making his voice heard