Cricket: Bird's fear of blindness

Former cricket umpire Dickie Bird feared he would never see again after being struck by blindness caused by years of exposure to the sun.

The former test umpire, who also played for Yorkshire and Leicestershire, told the Daily Telegraph newspaper yesterday that he lost his eyesight shortly after Christmas and was told the condition was incurable.

But Bird has fully recovered after a 3 1/2-hour operation on his right eye and four hours of surgery on his left in Manchester.

He said the condition, a form of detached retina, was caused by years of exposing his eyes to the sun's harmful rays.