Dickie Bird: Household names attend funeral of cricket legend who planned every detail as pay their tributes including Yorkshire Post columnist Christa Ackroyd and DJ Stephanie Hirst
The only thing Dickie Bird did not plan for his funeral was the drizzle which beset the ceremony in Barnsley today.
However that didn’t prevent dozens of mourners gathering outside St Mary’s Church on the edge of the town centre to listen to the service which was relayed outside by a loud speaker.
There was laughter and tears, heartfelt memories and light-hearted moments, and, true to form, Dickie arrived early – as he had for significant occasions throughout his whole life.
The service, conducted by Rev Phil Maries with an address by retired Bishop Chris Edmondson, who is chaplain of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, saw the likes of Sir Geoffrey Boycott, Yorkshire County Cricket Club chairman Colin Graves, and former England Michael Vaughan attend to honour the man known as the best cricketing umpire in the world.
Those standing outside in the rain said they were there to honour a proud Yorkshireman, who was also proud to be from Barnsley, with the phrase ‘he had a good innings’ particularly appropriate for a man whose white coat and flat cap on a cricket pitch were legendary.
Dickie, who died last month at his home in Barnsley aged 92, had planned every part of his funeral, and Yorkshire Post columnist Christa Ackroyd, who attended the funeral with DJ Stephanie Hirst said: “I absolutely love that he planned every bit of it, I just want it to go as he planned it because I feel like he’s going to be watching and saying ‘I didn’t say to do that, and I didn’t say to do that, and he planned everything and that was so Dickie’.”
Sculptor Graham Ibbeson, who made the statue of Dickie, which stands close to St Mary’s Church and where the hearse carrying Dickie’s coffin paused before arriving at the church ahead of the funeral, confirmed that some of his ashes will be incorporated into it.
Graham, who also lives in Barnsley, admitted that he thought it was a joke when he was first told of Dickie’s plan: "I’ll be quite honest, when I was approached, I thought they were taking the mick, I just burst out laughing.”
“I rung the family and said ‘Dickie wants his ashes in the sculpture’, we worked out a way that it can be done, and can be done with respect, so basically part of the cap comes off and the ashes are in a stainless steel flask and are lowered in and welded in so he will be here for ever and ever.”
Graham was one of many who attended today’s funeral to call Dickie a national treasure, telling the Yorkshire Post: "The thing is he was Barnsley through and through, he loved the community and the Barnsley community loved him.
"He was a treasure to us but he was a national treasure, a unique character because he was so accessible to everybody and that makes him a remarkable man.”
Council leader Sir Steve Houghton said that Dickie was Barnsley’s best advocate.
"We used to get businesses who wanted to invest in the borough and the first thing they said was ‘do you know Dickie? Well can you get us to meet him’.
"He was worth his weight in gold and everything over the last 20 years we’ve tried to do to improve Barnsley, Dickie has been part of that as well, so we’re eternally grateful to him for all he did.
"He never moved out, he always lived here, fame and fortune didn’t fettle him in any way. He was a Barnsley lad, was always and will always be, and you can see that from today the amount of people who want to be here."
Michael Vaughan said Dickie was ‘such a great character’.
"You could argue that he was married to cricket, married to Yorkshire cricket, his home was Headingley.
"I remember as a young player having times where I was having difficulty, not scoring too many runs and he’d still say ‘you’re playing great’, he’d always tell you that you were playing great. He had a positive influence on everybody.
"That little seat that he had at Headingley it’s going to be void but we’re going to give him a great send off today.
"It’s amazing that he was an umpire, but he brought so much joy to the game to so many people around the world, not just here in Yorkshire where he was absolutely loved but around the globe today I think they’ll all be raising a toast to Dickie Bird.
"I used to love him because as a batter he used to keep his finger down so they’ll be a few batters in here today saying ‘thanks Dickie and a few bowlers saying come on Dickie you should have given us a few more’ but he was a brilliant character and he’s going to be greatly missed.”