Dickie Bird pays £500 on a plaque fit for a Prince

The outlay has been made necessary after the cricketing legend was made an OBE in the New Year’s Honours List, making the current inscription on the statue, which reads Dickie Bird MBE, inaccurate.

Prince Charles is due to visit Barnsley tomorrow, and his tour of the town will include a meeting with Mr Bird at the statue which stands at the top of Old Mill Lane, near Barnsley College.

The 78-year-old said he was not prepared to allow the Prince to see the statue with an incorrect inscription, so had engaged the services of a stonemason to put it right before the royal occasion.

He added: “I’ve found a man from Huddersfield and I’m paying for it myself – £510.

“It seems a bit steep to me but he’s promised me he can do a good job. It’s got to be right.

“I’m thrilled and humbled that he is coming to see my statue. The visit is great for the town.”

The statue, which was made by Barnsley-based sculptor Graham Ibbeson, stands on a site very close to the house where Mr Bird was born.

It depicts him in bronze, wearing his flat cap and waving the famous “finger of fate”, so-called by many international cricketers who were given out by the official who presided over 66 Tests.

During his visit, Prince Charles will also meet staff at students at the Barnsley campus of Huddersfield University and tour Wentworth Castle Gardens.