Harold ‘Dickie’ Bird OBE has been proposed as the man to replace Geoffrey Boycott as Yorkshire’s new president, a decision that will be ratified at the club’s annual meeting at the end of next month.

The Yorkshire Board unanimously nominated the 80-year-old umpiring legend for a one-year term.

The club’s annual meeting will take place at Headingley on Saturday, March 29.

Bird scored 3,314 runs in a 93-match first-class career for Yorkshire and Leicestershire between 1956 and 1964, but is best known for his role as an international umpire through the seventies, eighties and nineties.

He stood in 66 Test matches and 93 one-day internationals, including three World Cup finals, before retirement in 1996.

Bird said: “Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would become the president of the greatest cricket club in the world.

“It is a tremendous honour, and I am very humbled and proud.

“To follow in the footsteps of some of the legends, such as Lord Hawke, FS Jackson, Sir Leonard Hutton, Brian Close, Bob Appleyard, Raymond Illingworth and Geoffrey Boycott, that have graced the club as president is the proudest moment of my career.

“I am particularly excited about the current team and the influx of young players coming through the system.

“The coaching staff, under Martyn Moxon and Jason Gillespie, are creating a winning culture, and I do believe we are on the verge of creating a team we will all be proud of that will eventually lift some silverware.”