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Although Dickie Bird, who passed away in 1992, did not play cricket for England, there is no denying his legacy as a legendary player.

This was the son of a miner, a young Yorkshireman from Barnsley, and a proud Yorkshireman whose heroics as umpires transcended cricket and earned him a reputation as a treasure.

On April 19, 1933, Harold Bird was born. His real passion was cricket, not football, but it was the youth team at Barnsley that made him a good footballer.

Prior to the dawn of fame and knighthoods, Sir Geoffrey Boycott and Sir Michael Parkinson were his contemporaries at Barnsley Cricket Club. Boycott and Parkinson were the opening batting partners, some years older. In their respective fields, the three lifelong friends would become famous.

When Yorkshire won the County Championship in 1959, Bird recorded its highest first-class score of 181 not out, which marked the start of a domineering era in which the White Rose county won the title six times throughout the 1960s.

However, Bird moved to Leicestershire the following year after only five matches in the summer of 1959.

Although Bird has a close relationship with Yorkshire, his main professional sports career was at Grace Road, where he played 79 first-class matches for Leicestershire and 14 for Yorkshire. His top-level playing career ended in 1964 with a modest return rate of just under 20 for Leicestershire, with one hundred.

In 1970, a remarkable life in umpiring began, and in 1973, Bird’s first test took place at Headingley, New Zealand hosting England.

Bird frequently slits a nervous figure in the middle, perhaps as a result of the incident’s tendency to follow him.

Bird’s presence in the middle, sitting on the covers, and surrounded by spectators, both foreshadowed some of the events that would come his way, and it also showed his closeness to the cricketing faithful, who appreciated his good humor.

When England faced the West Indies at Headingley in 1988, Bird had to deal with water that had oozing from under the outfield that had prevented play. Bird left the field, telling them, “I can’t help it if there’s a burst pipe,” as the Yorkshire crowd aimed to express their frustration. Water is coming up. That’s not my fault, either.

In 1995, Bird led the players out of Old Trafford because the bright sunlight was reflected off the middle, causing a distraction for the players. Once more, it was England’s opponents. Bird once more slammed the posh seats as he once more drew the crowd’s attention. “There’s something shining inside your box.

The respect Bird commanded as an official was not diminished by the chaotic circumstances. They, in fact, improved his reputation. In 1975, 1979, and 1983, he was chosen to represent England in the first three World Cup finals, which were held at Lord’s. One of Bird’s most well-known tales was won by Clive Lloyd’s West Indians in the 1975 final.

Bird’s famous white hat, which was made by a company in Luton, was removed from his head when fans erupted after the Windies won by 17 runs.

In June of this year, Bird claimed on the Test Match Special podcast that “I was on a London bus some years later.”

“I don’t know what I’m doing on a London bus, but I did notice a bus conductor wearing a white cap that resembled mine.”

“I told you, man, please explain to me where I got that white cap,” I replied, “Sorry, man, I forgot.” ‘. In the 1975 World Cup final, he said, “Have you heard of Mr. Dickie Bird? I pinched it off his head? ” ‘. “

Bird was the target of numerous pranks, and he was loved by players, even those who were irritated by his refusal to make decisions.

Allan Lamb, a former England batter, once jumped out of the middle when Bird was standing. Bird might have persuaded the umpire to take care of his cell phone by claiming that Lamb had forgotten to leave it in the dressing room with some artistic license. This was back in the days when cell phones were not that small and difficult to ignore.

Bird claimed in a frequently repeated story that he was at square leg when the phone rang. A well-known voice rang out as he answered.

In the dressing room, there is Ian Botham. Tell that lamb to take some shots or leave.

His 66 Tests, which he had won in 1996, set a world record for the time Bird retired from his position as an international umpire. The players from England and India stepped on to the Lord’s outfield for his final Test and received a guard of honor from there as well.

In the first over of the match, the famous not-outer Bird, who was tears in his eyes, gave a marginal lbw to England captain Michael Atherton.

Bird’s celebrity status endured even after his retirement. He won numerous awards for his books and gained acclaim for his speaking abilities.

He received an OBE in 2012 after receiving an MBE in 1986. Bird revealed that he and Queen Elizabeth II had met on 29 occasions in an interview with the Telegraph in 2023.

Bird was once invited to a lunchtime lunch at Buckingham Palace and arrived at the gates at 8.45am, always worried about arriving late.

A statue in Barnsley made bird famous in 2009, but the statue had to be raised above ground level four years later because his raised umpiring finger was frequently decorated with crude objects.

Bird claimed to be married to cricket, but he never got married. He said, “I’ve missed having a family, which is one thing.” I believe I would have made a good father. However, I’ve witnessed so many divorces in cricket, and as a result, my marriage would have been in jeopardized. I never got married because of this.

He remained a constant presence at Headingley, paying for a balcony outside the dressing room for the players to watch the action. His name appears on both the balcony and the ground clock.

England’s top bowler Kate Cross revealed this on the eve of the Women’s Hundred in August, revealing that she had lost her central contract with the national team.

The 33-year-old was dropped during this summer’s one-day series against India and was not chosen for the upcoming World Cup. She has led England’s seam attack since Katherine Sciver-Brunt retired in 2023.

“Probably one of the toughest weeks I’ve ever had,” said Cross, “the toughest week of my career.”

“I started the India series by opening the bowling for England as vice-captain, and I didn’t even manage to make the 13-man field for the series’ final game.”

In a conversation before the game, Lottie [England head coach Charlotte Edwards] stated to me that it was a must-win game.

It was difficult to hear as a cricketer who had always praised myself for being a trustworthy bowler for my captain who would stand up in difficult situations. That made me feel very quickly that a lot of trust had been lost.

Making her debut against West Indies in 2013, Lancashire bowler Cross has played eight Tests, 76 ODIs, and 18 T20s for England.

Due to a back injury, Cross was a member of the England squad that won the Women’s Ashes in Australia in 2013-2014 but missed the most recent series, which saw England fall to 16-0 on points.

She was recalled after figures of 0-60 against India in the first ODI of a series, which the visitors then won 2-1, but she was able to play in one-day internationals against West Indies.

On their No Balls podcast, Cross addressed former England team-mate Alex Hartley, who stated, “Our appraisals were about ten days after that series.”

“I drove myself back home after going down to Loughborough, where I believe I spent about six minutes there.”

We had the chance to include a member of the Professional Cricketers’ Association in our evaluation.

“I’m so pleased I took him in, looking back. Before I started the appraisal, I chatted with him about what I thought my scenario was, which I didn’t understand.

I cried out and went in, but within 45 seconds I learned I wasn’t getting my contract renewed, so it all happened really quickly.

I think I was strangely more composed than I was before talking. I had a lot of my stats and other things to talk about when I entered the room, but I had no chance to open my book. A pretty brutal day was had.

Pep Guardiola, manager of Manchester City, claims that despite a demanding fixture schedule, he must “take care” of his players like “a father and mother take care of their sons.”

City thrashed Napoli and Manchester United in a weeklong saga before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer at Arsenal on Sunday.

With a growing injury list, City travels to League One Huddersfield Town on Wednesday for the third round of the Carabao Cup.

“We can be a stable team, and we can learn from each other’s mistakes when injured players return,” he said.

Erling Haaland, who was injured in the 76th minute against Arsenal because of a back issue, will not play in West Yorkshire, but Guardiola is optimistic that the Norwegian will be okay for the Premier League game against Burnley on Saturday.

At half-time, Abdukodir Khusanov struck Rayan Cherki and Omar Marmoush at Emirates Stadium, and it’s not yet clear whether Rayan Ait-Nouri will recover from a knock.

City came out of the gate last year, failing to win a significant trophy, and coming off consecutive defeats before the international break, but they have since won three games without losing in any other division.

Since taking over as manager of the second team at Barcelona up until now, Guardiola has always pleaded with the players to give everything to the pitch.

We didn’t do it in some ways last season, but this season, especially in the USA, we started to recover many aspects of our team’s identity that had been missing for many years.

I had no control over the fact that Arsenal could do better when this happened [conceding an equaliser there]. Yes, we can make better decisions, and we will do so.

Because Guardiola claimed he is traveling to London “to become a father for a second time,” midfielder Kalvin Phillips, who has spent the past two seasons on loan at West Ham and Ipswich, is unlikely to play for Huddersfield.

After returning to a 5-5-0 formation on Sunday in an effort to win, Guardiola’s tactics were questioned, and City’s 33% possession was the lowest he had managed in his 601 top-flight games.

He declared, “I’m really proud and satisfied.”

“We made many things up that the previous season didn’t.” Our spirit was incredible. I give the opponents incredible power, but we can’t sustain playing the way we did and don’t want to.

Arsenal are able to do that to other opponents for the majority of their games, and I want to learn that when we draw a game in the same way that we did against them, who are a strong contender and advanced to the Champions League semi-final. That’s a moment I want to remember.

At the World Parasitic Championships in Singapore, Faye Rogers won the 400-meter freestyle race, and Alice Tai won the 100-meter butterfly competition.

Rogers won the S10 freestyle in a time of 4:32.34, up from his silver medalist from Monday, winning the 200-meter individual medley on Tuesday.

Bianka Pap, Hungary’s Bianka Pap, and Rogers, who won gold in the 100-meter butterfly at the 2024 Paralympics, finished third in 3.92 seconds.

“My race plan was just focusing on swimming,” I said. Mission accomplished there, Rogers said, “I still believe I went out a little too fast, but we didn’t die off as much toward the end.

I can’t ask for much more than that, because that was a record-breaking PB and a gold medal.

In the same vein, Tai won her third gold medal of the year in the S8 100m butterfly competition in 1:11.20, placing third behind teammate Brock Whiston.

Tai has won the S8 100m backstroke and S8 400m freestyle, respectively.

Tai said, “I didn’t anticipate winning that one.” My fly is “always a little unpredictable, but it just worked out today.” The LA 2028 Paralympics cycle seems to be headed in the right direction.

Iona Winnifrith, age 14, won silver in the SB7 100-meter breaststroke.

The Briton set a new national record by finishing second to Mariia Pavlova, who was the youngest Paralympics participant at the 2024 Games.

Olivia Newman-Baronius won bronze in the same event’s female category while Harry Stewart won bronze in the 100-meter breaststroke SB14.

Arsenal expect Noni Madueke to miss about six to eight weeks with the knee injury sustained in the 1-1 draw with Manchester City on Sunday.

However, the 23-year-old England international is not believed to have suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

The summer signing from Chelsea was substituted at half-time of the Premier League match with City and has been undergoing tests to discover the severity of the problem.

Sources are indicating medics are waiting for the swelling to subside before making a definitive diagnosis on the injury, but it is understood that Madueke will be sidelined for a minimum of six weeks, though that timescale is thought to be the best-case scenario.

If the initial prognosis is confirmed, Madueke will not return to action until November at the earliest, ruling him out of a clutch of key domestic and European games for the Gunners.

The attacker is set to miss England’s forthcoming games against Wales and Latvia, while also making him a doubt for World Cup qualifiers against Serbia and Albania in mid-November.

Noni Madueke’s knee injury, which was sustained in Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Manchester City on Sunday, should cause him to miss about six to eight weeks.

However, it is not believed that the England international, age 23, had an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

The Chelsea summer signing has been going through tests to determine the extent of the problem, having been substituted at half-time of their Premier League clash with City.

According to sources, doctors are awaiting a definitive diagnosis of the injury before placing a patient on a ventilator for at least six weeks, even though that is the ideal scenario.

Madueke will miss a number of important domestic and international games for the Gunners if the initial forecast is confirmed, which would preclude him from playing until at least November.

The attacker is expected to miss England’s upcoming games against Wales and Latvia, but he is also expected to miss Serbia and Albania’s mid-November World Cup qualifiers.