fullname years death_date death_place clubs birth_place statsend originalteam birth_date article_title name
thomas robert bird 1925 , 1928 12 april 1979 thornbury , victoria collingwood collingwood , victoria 1928 collingwood district 31 august 1904 thomas bird -lrb- sportsman -rrb-
 tommy bird
thomas bird -lrb- sportsman -rrb-

thomas `` tommy '' robert bird -lrb- 31 august 1904 -- 12 april 1979 -rrb- was an australian sportsman who played first-class cricket for victoria and australian rules football with collingwood in the victorian football league -lrb- vfl -rrb- .
thomas played nine games and kicked five goals for collingwood over two vfl seasons .
he debuted at collingwood in 1925 , a year when collingwood reached the grand final for the first of six successive seasons .
as a result of the magpies side being so strong , bird struggled to make the team and after his two games in 1925 did n't make another appearance with the seniors until 1928 .
in a premiership year for collingwood , thomas played seven games , including one against carlton at princes park where he kicked three goals in a thrilling win .
he however missed out on selection again for the finals series .
on the cricket field bird was a right-handed wicket-keeper batsman and played three first-class matches for victoria in the summer of 1928/29 .
his debut match , against new south wales , was his finest as he scored 63 from position eight in the batting order to help victoria secure a draw in their second innings .
the match , which took place at the sydney cricket ground , is remembered for don bradman 's innings of 340 not out , his maiden first-class triple hundred .
