Now that’s cricket!
Umpire Dickie Bird’s book made him a millionaire overnight (outselling Diana’s biography) But today, as cricket cheats face shame, HE is planning to give away a fortune
Q What did you think of the Aussie cricket team’s ball-tampering behaviour? A THE captains of every cricketi ng nation should show an example to their players and their team and play the game hard – but within the spirit of the game.
Having said that, I think the punishments – one year bans for captain Steve Smith and vice captain David Warner – are harsh.
In years gone by, players who have been caught ball tampering have been fined, not banned for a year. I think it was right to impose a ban because players nowadays earn so much money, but it should only have lasted for six months.
I think they should also have had to pay a heavy fine. I just hope it will teach other players a lesson, so no one ever does it again.
Q What did your parents teach you about money? A NOT to do anything stupid with it. They always said to me: ‘Go steady with your money, be sensible.’ My father was a coal miner. He worked in the mine in Barnsley from age 13 to 65 and never missed a shift. My mother was a housewife and spent all her time making meals, cleaning the house and looking after me and my two sisters.
We lived in a two-up, two-down terrace house near the pits. Our toilet was outside and we would wash in a tub in front of the fire. Times were hard but my mum always made sure we had a good table and plenty to eat and my dad always made sure I had a cricket bat. I had a happy childhood.
Q What was the first paid work you ever did? A WORKING in the machinery repair shop at the colliery, after I left school at 15. My father would not let me go down the mine. No way, he said. From a young age, he instilled into me that I would play sport for a living. He would get up at four o’clock each day to go to the pit and when he came home in the afternoon, although tired, he would spend hours with me playing cricket and football.
QHave you ever struggled to make ends meet? NO, not really. A I lived at home and worked until I signed for Yorkshire Cricket Club at age 19. After that I always made ends meet even though sportsmen in those days earned little – not like today.
We used to get a maximum £550 a year and had to work in the winter. I worked as a travelling salesman for a sports shop in Huddersfield.
Q Have you ever been paid silly money for a job? Q NOT as a sportsman. But my book was the best-selling sports autobiography in history. It made me a millionaire overnight.
I had a ghostwriter of course – Keith Lodge, a local lad who was the sports editor on The Barnsley Chronicle. At the time, all the big sports writers from the national newspapers wanted to write it, but they wanted to do it quickly. Lodge and I took our time. For 18 months, we spent about two hours each evening working on it. I think that made all the difference.
QWhat was your best year in terms of money made? A IT was 1997, the year my autobiography came out. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would go to the top of the bestsellers’ list and beat even Princess Diana’s book. I could not believe it when it did. I got the biggest shock of my life.
Q What is the most expensive thing you ever bought yourself for fun? A IN 1998, I bought a black Jaguar XK motor car for £70,000. After the success o f my autobiography, I thought I would treat myself. I love driving Jaguars because I am British and they are British. A few days ago, I bought the new Jaguar that has just come out for £50,000.
Q What is the biggest money mistake you ever made? A I CANNOT think of one. My old solicitor told me once: ‘Dickie, you are a simple man and you must have simple ways.’ He is dead and gone but throughout my life I have followed his advice.
Q What is your best money decision? A WRITING my autobiography. In total, I sold more than a million copies in hardback and near on a million copies in paperback. It was tremendous.
Q Do you save into a pension or invest in the stock market? A NO. I have never invested in the stock market. It is too big a gamble. I get a comfortable pension from the Test and County Cricket Board Q PRIZED: Bird with one of his treasured Jaguar sports cars which I paid i nto when I was umpiring.
Q Do you own any property? A YES, my home, a 16th Century cottage in Barnsley. I still live here because I am proud of Barnsley, it is a fine little town. My home is a big place – four bedrooms and a massive garden – and my back window looks out on the Pennines. I have lived here for 50-odd years.
Q What is the one little luxury you like to treat yourself to? A WHEN I go out for a meal once a fortnight, a glass of the best red wine on the menu. I never know what wine it is. I just say to the waiter: ‘I will have a glass of your best.’ It costs about £5 a glass.
Q If you were Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the first thing you would do? A I WOULD increase NHS funding for premature and sick newborn babies to make sure they get the best care in the entire world. I would ring-fence funds specifically for that purpose. Q Do you think it is important to give to charity? A YES. I have given £35,000 to Great Ormond Street Hospital out of my own pocket. I have also given £70,000 to Barnsley Hospit al’s Tiny Hearts Appeal and £30,000 to the Children’s Heart Surgery Fund at Leeds General Infirmary which supports children and adults born with congenital heart disease across Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire.
Why? Because if I have one regret in life, it is not having a family. I signed for Yorkshire at age 19 and from then on, until I retired at 65, I lived out of a suitcase. I never married as a result.
When I visit these hospitals and see sick little babies needing surgery or cut from their groin to their neck after heart operations, I break down in tears. I am not ashamed to admit it.
I take them into my heart and I think: ‘That is where all my money is going and all my time, too.’
I go and help as much as I possibly can. I have a lump in my throat now just thinking about how sick these kids are.
For more information about the Children’s Heart Surgery Fund, visit chsf.org.uk.
Q What is your number one financial priority? A TO leave my money to the hospitals I support, to help sick little babies when I am dead and gone.