Great umpire, great character for the sport. Shame our premier league bent robotic officials don't possess an ounce of his wisdom and integrity. Rip.
It reminds me of the story of in the 1970’s where a rule was brought in that stopped umpires of the same nationality as the teams playing from umpiring in those matches.
Australia complained saying the best umpires should stand in as many games as possible.
Dennis Lillee, the fire breathing Pom hater, was asked if he would be happy for Dickie Bird to umpire from the end he was bowling from when playing against England, and what would happen if Dickie Bird made a mistake.
Lillee’s reply was if Dickie Bird did make a mistake he would be sure to tell him he’d made a mistake, but what wouldn’t cross his mind for a second was that the nationality of the batsman had anything to do with that decision.
He said, anyone who would think that really doesn’t know Dickie Bird.
Oh for that level of integrity and trust in the officials of the PL.