A bronze statue of England's [Images] best-known umpire Harold "Dickie" Bird will be unveiled in his Yorkshire home town of Barnsley this year with replicas in Melbourne and a site in India, the BBC reported on Thursday.
Bird, 74, umpired 66 Test matches and three World Cup finals before retiring in 1996.
An instantly recognisable character, he incurred the wrath of crowds with his willingness to leave the field at the slightest hint of rain but won the gratitude of batsmen with his reluctance to give lbw decisions.
"I have umpired at four World Cup finals and I was awarded an MBE in 1986, but this moment is right up there with those," Bird was quoted as saying.
"Growing up in Barnsley, I never dreamed there would be a statue of me in the middle of the town."
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