Paul Bird

Background

He was born in Bristol.

Career

In senior cricket Bird was a tail-end right-handed batsman and a right-arm fast-medium bowler. After playing for Optimists and appearing in one second eleven match for Gloucestershire, he joined Somerset"s staff for the 1994 season and immediately broke into the first team to play in two first-class matches and five limited-overs games. Bird signed a new two year contract with Somerset at the end of the 1994 season, but had to retire in June in the 1995 season with a serious shoulder injury picked up in pre-season training.

His highlights were bowling out Brian Lara (against Warwickshire) in a List A match live on television and also claiming the wicket of Mike Atherton (against Lancashire) at Old Trafford.

He did not make a lot of impact in the first eleven in his first year, as he failed to take a wicket in his two first-class games, and there were only three wickets in his List A games, with best bowling figures of one wicket for 18 runs against Glamorgan. Bird played club cricket for Chippenham Central Committee in the Western League Premier Division in 1999 and 2000.

Achievements

• He played club cricket for Optimists Central Committee (now known as Bristol Central Committee) and he was a member of the Optimists team that won the National Knockout final at Lords in 1992. In this season, for the Somerset second eleven, Bird took 39 wickets at an average of 22 - helping Somerset win the Rapid Cricketline 2nd XI Championship. He has played for Claverham Central Committee, in Somerset, since 2001 and helped them win the Bristol and Somerset League in 2004 and 2015.