Cricket: Surgery helps Dickie Bird

Former English cricket umpire Dickie Bird is enjoying a new lease of life after a complex operation to restore his failing sight.

Bird, aged 68, had a two-hour operation in Manchester this month to correct a crumpled retina in his left eye. He enjoyed a 28-year umpiring career and has been told that those years of officiating in bright, sunny climates could have caused the deterioration in sight.

Bird, who umpired 68 tests, 93 one-dayers and officiated in four World Cup finals, said his decision to quit in 1998 was not connected to sight problems.