49-638: Colin Peter Metson (born 2 July 1963) is a former English cricketer. He was described by Dickie Bird as "the best wicketkeeper I have seen in England since Alan Knott ". Metson started his career at Middlesex where he was an understudy to Paul Downton , appearing only when Downton was on international duty from 1981 until 1986. He joined Glamorgan in 1987 to get more game time and soon became their first choice wicketkeeper. Metson studied Economic History at Durham University , graduating in 1985. He
98-693: A batsman for Yorkshire and Leicestershire in 93 matches, mostly in the County Championship. After his county career ended Bird was a cricket professional for Paignton between 1965 and 1969, scoring over 10,000 runs. He coached cricket at Plymouth College between 1966 and 1968, and coached in Johannesburg in 1968 and 1969. He stood in his first county game in 1970. Three years later, he officiated at his first Test match , England v New Zealand at Headingley in Leeds . The other umpire
147-406: A batsman, but feels that his attempt to forge a career as a county cricketer was hampered by his inability to control his nerves – although he was also not helped by stiff competition for the opening batsman's position. Indeed, after scoring his first (and only) County Championship century of 181* in a 1959 match against Glamorgan at Bradford, in the absence of the regular opener Ken Taylor (who
196-505: A career in sport. 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 journalist and chat show host Michael Parkinson , who became a lifelong friend; they were later joined in the team by Geoffrey Boycott . In 1956, Bird signed up with his home county, Yorkshire . Boycott has spoken highly of Bird's ability as
245-728: A first-class match, that the ICC clearly stipulates that its match type list "is not exhaustive and is merely indicative of the matches which would fall into the first-class definition". For example, the list includes matches of recognised first-class teams versus international touring teams; and the leading domestic championships (using their then-current names) such as the County Championship , Sheffield Shield , Ranji Trophy , etc. The absence of any ICC ruling about matches played before 1947 (or before 1895 in Great Britain)
294-807: A foreword by Michael Parkinson ), which sold more than a million copies. A sequel titled White Cap and Bails – Adventures of a Much Travelled Umpire was published in 1999 by Hodder and Stoughton. Bird set up the Dickie Bird Foundation to help disadvantaged under-18s achieve their potential in sport. He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1992 when he was surprised by Michael Aspel at Yorkshire Television . Bird appeared in one episode of Trigger Happy TV . He also appeared in an episode of Top Gear in 2010. That year he also took part in BBC's The Young Ones , in which six celebrities in their seventies and eighties, attempted to overcome some of
343-617: A line between what was important historically and what should form part of the statistical record. Hence, for pre-1895 (i.e., in Great Britain) cricket matches, "first-class" is essentially a statistical concept while the historical concept is broader and takes account of historical significance. Webber's rationale was that cricket was "generally weak before 1864" (there was a greater and increasingly more organised effort to promote county cricket from about that time) and match details were largely incomplete, especially bowling analyses, which hindered compilation of records. According to Webber's view,
392-400: A much-loved figure among players and viewing public, due to his excellence as an umpire, but also his many eccentricities. Bird played first-class cricket for Yorkshire and Leicestershire as a right-handed batsman, but only scored two centuries in 93 appearances. His career was blighted by a knee injury, which eventually forced him to retire aged 31. He umpired in 66 Test matches (at the time
441-437: A world record) and 69 One Day Internationals , including 3 World Cup Finals. In February 2014, Yorkshire announced that Bird was to be voted in as the club's president at their Annual General Meeting on 29 March. Bird's autobiography, published in 1997, has sold more than a million copies. Harold Dennis Bird was born at Church Lane, Barnsley , West Riding of Yorkshire , England, on Wednesday, 19 April 1933, but when he
490-634: Is "taking" the first-class matches to be one against Sydney ( sic ), two each against Victoria , the Combined team and the Australian Eleven, and another against South Australia . In the fourth issue on 1 June 1882, James Lillywhite refers to first-class matches on the tour but gives a different list. The earliest known match scorecards date from 1744 but few have been found before 1772. The cards for three 1772 matches have survived and scorecards became increasingly common thereafter. At
539-399: Is a fairly comprehensive store of data about 19th century matches, certainly since 1825. Subsequently, Webber's view was challenged by Bill Frindall who believed that 1815 should be the startpoint to encompass the entire roundarm bowling phase of cricket's history, although roundarm did not begin in earnest until 1827. In Frindall's view, the inaugural first-class match should have been
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#1732801877474588-457: Is problematic for those cricket statisticians who wish to categorise earlier matches in the same way. They have responded by compiling their own match lists and allocating a strictly unofficial first-class status to the matches they consider to have been of a high standard. It is therefore a matter of opinion only with no official support. Inevitable differences have arisen and there are variations in published cricket statistics . In November 2021,
637-484: Is unknown, but the term was used loosely before it acquired official status in 1895, following a meeting of leading English clubs. At a meeting of the Imperial Cricket Conference (ICC) in 1947, it was formally defined on a global basis. A significant omission of the ICC ruling was any attempt to define first-class cricket retrospectively. That has left historians, and especially statisticians, with
686-509: The BBC about his loneliness while shielding during the COVID-19 lockdown. He said that exercise was the key to him keeping his spirits up. First-class cricket First-class cricket One Day International Limited overs (domestic) Twenty20 International Twenty20 (domestic) Other forms First-class cricket , along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket , is one of
735-596: The ACS had published its Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles, 1709–1863 in which it listed all the known matches during that period which it considered to have historical importance. The ACS did stipulate that they had taken a more lenient view of importance regarding matches played in the 18th century than they did of matches played in the 19th century. As they explained, surviving details of 18th century matches are typically incomplete while there
784-464: The ACS' Important Matches guide, which have left no scorecard and for which only a brief announcement or report exists, must be based on other factors. Contemporary importance was often measured by the amount of money at stake and the fact that a match was deemed notable enough to be reported in the press. The 18th century matches in the ACS list were primarily compiled to assist historians. The earliest match known to have been accorded superior status in
833-419: The ICC and the application of ICC conditions when the match is played. In 2010, the ICC published its Classification of Official Cricket which includes the criteria with which a match must comply to achieve a desired categorisation. In the section on first-class cricket, there is a list of the types of match that should qualify. It is important to note, given the differences in opinion about what constitutes
882-463: The ICC retrospectively applied first-class status to women's cricket , aligning it with the men's game. A key issue for the statisticians is when first-class cricket for their purpose is deemed to have begun. Writing in 1951, Roy Webber argued that the majority of matches prior to 1864 (i.e., the year in which overarm bowling was legalised) "cannot be regarded as first-class" and their records are used "for their historical associations". This drew
931-492: The West Indian players. Then, in the third test at Lords, play was interrupted by an IRA bomb scare (later found out to be a hoax). While the crowd cleared out of the ground in record time, Bird and the players sat down in the centre of the pitch, knowing there was no bomb there. He gained a reputation for stopping play for weather, and almost never giving batsmen out LBW – he gave LBWs so seldom that if he did give it, there
980-697: The answers. In 1880, the Cricket Reporting Agency was founded. It acquired influence through the decade especially by association with Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ( Wisden ) and the press came to generally rely on its information and opinions. The term acquired official status, though limited to matches in Great Britain, following a meeting at Lord's in May 1894 between the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) committee and
1029-400: The beginning of the 1860s, there were only four formally constituted county clubs. Sussex was the oldest, formed in 1839, and it had been followed by Kent , Nottinghamshire and Surrey . In the early 1860s, several more county clubs were founded, and questions began to be raised in the sporting press about which should be categorised as first-class, but there was considerable disagreement in
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#17328018774741078-431: The country's highest playing standard. Later ICC rulings make it possible for international teams from associate members of the ICC to achieve first-class status but it is dependent on the status of their opponents in a given match. According to the ICC definition, a match may be adjudged first-class if: A Test match is a first-class match played between two ICC full member countries, subject to their current status at
1127-545: The crowd. A year later, Bird was a passenger on a bus in South London , when he noticed the conductor was wearing a white hat very similar to the one he favoured, and asked the conductor where he obtained it from. "Man, haven't you heard of Mr Dickie Bird," he replied. "This is one of his hats. I took it off his head at the World Cup final... we all ran onto the field and I won the race." Bird's attention to detail
1176-604: The famous finger. On his pending appointment as President of Yorkshire CCC in 2014, Bird stated "Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would become the president of the greatest cricket club in the world". In August 2014, Bird was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue . In March 2021, Bird spoke to
1225-428: The highest-standard forms of cricket . A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adjudged to be worthy of the status by virtue of the standard of the competing teams. Matches must allow for the teams to play two innings each, although in practice a team might play only one innings or none at all. The etymology of "first-class cricket"
1274-577: The inaugural first-class match was the opening game of the 1864 season between Cambridge University and MCC at Fenner's on 12 and 13 May, Cambridge winning by 6 wickets. When the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) published its Guide to First-Class Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles in 1982, it tentatively agreed with Webber's 1864 start date by saying that "the line between first-class and other matches becomes more easily discernible about that date". A year earlier,
1323-435: The inaugural first-class match was the opening game of the 1895 season between MCC and Nottinghamshire at Lord's on 1 and 2 May, MCC winning by 37 runs. " Test match " was another loosely applied term at the time but the first list of matches considered to be "Tests" was conceived and published by South Australian journalist Clarence P. Moody in his 1894 book, Australian Cricket and Cricketers, 1856 to 1893–94 . His proposal
1372-717: The internet, the CricketArchive (CA) and ESPN Cricinfo (CI) databases both say the earliest first-class match was Hampshire v England at Broadhalfpenny Down on 24 and 25 June 1772. At that time, cricket matches were played with a two-stump wicket and exclusively underarm bowling , although other features of the modern game had been introduced. The opinion of these databases has been repudiated by both Wisden and Playfair Cricket Annual . Wisden agrees with Frindall by commencing its first-class records in 1815. Playfair supports Webber and begins its records in 1864. The status of earlier matches, including many in
1421-527: The opening game of the 1815 season between MCC and Middlesex at Lord's on 31 May and 1 June, Middlesex winning by 16 runs. Notwithstanding Frindall's reputation, Webber's view has been revived and reinforced in recent times. For example, the Kent researcher Derek Carlaw began his study of Kent cricketers since 1806 by stating: "Part One is confined to players who appeared for Kent in important matches from 1806 to 1863 and first-class matches from 1864 to 1914". On
1470-590: The problem of how to categorise earlier matches, especially those played in Great Britain before 1895. The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) has published a list of early matches which are believed to have been of a high standard. Test cricket , the highest standard of cricket, is statistically a form of first-class cricket, though the term "first-class" is mainly used to refer to domestic competition. A player's first-class statistics include any performances in Test matches. Before 1894 "first-class"
1519-636: The problems of ageing, by harking back to the 1970s. He also made a guest appearance in Series 16 Ep 7 of Heartbeat umpiring a cricket match. Bird was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1986 and Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to cricket and charity. Bird has also received honorary doctorates from Huddersfield , Leeds and Sheffield Hallam Universities. Bird
Colin Metson - Misplaced Pages Continue
1568-486: The secretaries of the clubs involved in the official County Championship , which had begun in 1890. As a result, those clubs became first-class from 1895 along with MCC, Cambridge University , Oxford University , senior cricket touring teams (i.e., Australia and South Africa at that time) and other teams designated as such by MCC (e.g., North v South , Gentlemen v Players and occasional "elevens" which consisted of recognised first-class players). Officially, therefore,
1617-532: The start of the 1960 season he moved to Leicestershire , where at first he enjoyed a more or less regular place in the team. In his first season (1960), he scored over 1,000 runs, including a century against the touring South Africans which would prove to be his only other first-class century. However, he faded out of the team, thanks to a combination of loss of form, confidence and a recurrence of his persistent knee injury, playing his last match in 1964. Overall, between 1956 and 1964, Bird played first-class cricket as
1666-617: The status of teams. For example, MCC was authorised to determine the status of matches played in Great Britain. To all intents and purposes, the 1947 ICC definition confirmed the 1894 MCC definition, and gave it international recognition and usage. Hence, official judgment of status is the responsibility of the governing body in each country that is a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC). The governing body grants first-class status to international teams and to domestic teams that are representative of
1715-517: The team captains returned to the Long Room after their fifth pitch inspection. The two captains, Ian Botham and Greg Chappell , had to intervene to protect Constant. Bird, however, was still on the pitch at the time according to his own recounting of the event in his book. When play finally started at 3:45 pm, police had to escort the umpires through the Long Room and on to the field. This
1764-689: The time a world record) and 69 One Day Internationals including 3 World Cup Finals. He came out of retirement in January 2007 to umpire in the XXXX Gold Beach Cricket Tri-Nations series involving cricketing legends from England , the West Indies and Australia , which partly took place at Scarborough Beach in Perth , Western Australia. Bird went on to write his autobiography simply titled My Autobiography (with
1813-474: The two teams – India and England – formed a guard of honour as he came out, and he received a standing ovation from the crowd. Bird, an emotional man, was in tears. His eyes had to clear quickly, though, because two minutes later he had to give England captain Mike Atherton out LBW in the first over. Two years later, in 1998, he stood in his last county match. Bird umpired in 66 Test matches (at
1862-465: The umpires had to take the players off while the outfield was cleared of water. One of Bird's strengths was his ability to manage and earn the respect of some of the more volatile players in the game, sometimes by using his infectious humour. He was also known as being eccentric, famously arriving at a ground five hours early as the Queen was to visit that day. At the beginning of his final Test in 1996,
1911-464: Was Charlie Eliott as England won by an innings and one run. Bird also umpired in the second and third tests of that summer's tour by the West Indies – both of which proved eventful: in the second test at Edgbaston, Bird had to umpire from the bowler's end at both ends for couple of overs, with a substitute umpire at square leg, when Arthur Fagg refused to continue in protest against the conduct of
1960-542: Was a common adjective applied to cricket matches in England, used loosely to suggest that a match had a high standard; adjectives like "great", "important" and "major" were also loosely applied to such matches, but there tended to be differences of opinion. In the inaugural issue of Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game on 10 May 1882, the term is used twice on page 2 in reference to the recently completed tour of Australia and New Zealand by Alfred Shaw's XI . The report says it
2009-464: Was absolutely no doubt the batsman was out. Bird was also very strict on the definitions of "intimidatory bowling", both from short-pitched deliveries and high full tosses, and made it abundantly clear he would tolerate none of it. Bird was an umpire in the final of the inaugural Cricket World Cup in 1975. A pitch invasion followed the West Indies ' 17-run victory, and number of players and umpires had items of their playing outfits " souvenired " by
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2058-471: Was appointed managing director of cricket at Glamorgan County Cricket Club in 2010, before he was moved into a Community and Cricket Development role on 14 February 2012. That role was made redundant for financial reasons in 2013, with Metson leaving the club. Dickie Bird Harold Dennis " Dickie " Bird , OBE (born 19 April 1933) is an English former cricketer and retired international cricket umpire . During his long umpiring career, he became
2107-454: Was awarded the Freedom of Barnsley in 2000. He was awarded Honorary Life Membership of the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1996. A six-foot statue of Bird erected in his honour near the place of his birth in Barnsley was unveiled on 30 June 2009. It has subsequently been raised by putting it on a five-foot-high plinth in order to discourage late night revellers hanging inappropriate items on
2156-540: Was formally defined by the then Imperial Cricket Conference (ICC) on 19 May 1947. It was made clear that the definition "will not have retrospective effect". The definition is as follows: A match of three or more days' duration between two sides of eleven players officially adjudged first-class, shall be regarded as a first-class fixture. Matches in which either team have more than eleven players or which are scheduled for less than three days shall not be regarded as first-class. The Governing body in each country shall decide
2205-458: Was not the only occasion where Bird had to stop play, despite current sunny conditions, because of previous bad weather: in the 1988 Test at Headingley against the West Indies, an overnight rainstorm caused a blocked drain to overflow with a delayed action: the pitch was fine but the bowler's run-up was slowly flooding from underneath, the water level was oozing up over Curtly Ambrose's bootlaces, and Bird's as well when he went over to investigate, and
2254-565: Was placed under scrutiny at the Centenary Test between England and Australia at Lord's in 1980. Although the Saturday of this particular match had mostly pleasant sunshine, Bird and his fellow umpire, David Constant , refused to let play start because of the previous night's rain; parts of the outfield were still too waterlogged, according to the officials. Angry Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) members scuffled with Constant as he and
2303-460: Was playing for England ), he was dropped when Taylor returned from international duty in the next match. Bird played only five more championship matches that season (plus the MCC versus Champion County match), four in the middle order rather than his preferred opener's position, and spent most of the season as "twelfth man": hardly a situation conducive to building confidence in his batting. Shortly before
2352-419: Was two years old, he moved with his family to New Lodge estate as his house was pulled down in a slum clearance scheme. The son of a coal miner, he gained the nickname 'Dickie' at school. In 1944, Bird failed his 11-plus examination and went to Raley Secondary Modern School , leaving at the age of 15. For a while, he worked at a coal mine, but gave it up, deciding it was not for him. Instead, he set out for
2401-610: Was widely accepted after a list of 39 matches was reproduced in the 28 December 1894 issue of Cricket magazine. The list began with the Melbourne Cricket Ground match played 15–17 March 1877 and ended with a recent match at the Association Ground, Sydney played 14–20 December 1894. All of Moody's matches, plus four additional ones, were retrospectively recognised as Test matches and also, thereby, as first-class matches. The term "first-class cricket"
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