New Delhi, Sept. 23 -- Dickie Bird, who was one of the on-field umpires during former India captains Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid's memorable Test debuts in England in 1996, died at the age of 92 on Tuesday. The news of Bird's death was confirmed by his former clubs Yorkshire and Leicestershire.

A former first-class English cricketer, Bird made his debut as an umpire in 1973. Since then, he went on to officiate in 66 Tests and 76 ODIs in men's and women's cricket over the next 23 years, which included the famous England vs India Test match at Lord's in 1996.

Both Ganguly and Dravid scored hundreds on Test debut in that game and went on to become stalwarts in Indian cricket. In fact, that Lord's Test was Bird's final game as an umpire...