Brent Fraser "Billy" Bowden (born 11 April 1963) is a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. He was a player until he began to suffer from

rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and hands are involv ...

. He is well known for his dramatic signaling style which includes the famous "crooked finger of doom" out signal. On 6 February 2016, Bowden stood in his 200th

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

match in the game between New Zealand and Australia in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

Early life and career

In March 1995, he officiated his first

between New Zealand and Sri Lanka at

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

. In March 2000 he was appointed his first Test match as an on-field umpire, and in 2002 he was included in the Emirates Panel of International Umpires. A year later he was asked to umpire at the

Cricket World Cup The Cricket World Cup (officially known as ICC Men's Cricket World Cup) is the international championship of One Day International (ODI) cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), e ...

in South Africa, and was chosen to be the

fourth umpire The fourth umpire (sometimes referred to as the reserve umpire), is a cricket umpire. For all international matches a fourth umpire is required to perform duties like bringing on the new ball, carrying drinks on to the field for the umpires, checki ...

in the final between Australia and India. Shortly after this he was duly promoted to the Emirates

Elite Panel of ICC Umpires The Elite Panel of ICC Umpires is a panel of cricket umpires appointed by the International Cricket Council to officiate in Test matches and One Day Internationals around the world. The panel was first established in April 2002 when the ICC deci ...

, of which he was a member until 2013. He reprised his role as fourth umpire in the

2007 Cricket World Cup final The final of the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was played on 28 April 2007 at the Kensington Oval, Barbados. Australia defeated Sri Lanka by 53 runs (under the Duckworth–Lewis method) to win their 4th World Cup and 3rd in succession. Road to the ...

Bowden was involved in an incident at the 2006 Brisbane Ashes test while standing at the square leg fielding position, when knocked to the ground by a ball hit by

Geraint Jones Geraint Owen Jones (born 14 July 1976) is a former cricketer who played for both England and Papua New Guinea. Born to Welsh parents in Papua New Guinea, between 2004 and 2006 he was the first-choice wicketkeeper for the England cricket team. ...

. He was selected as one of the twenty umpires to stand in matches during the

2015 Cricket World Cup The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 11th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was jointly hosted by Aust ...

. He was a member of the

International Panel of Umpires and Referees The International Panel of ICC Umpires was established by the ICC in 1994 following trial in 1992/3, to ensure that one neutral umpire would stand in every Test match. On 24 December 2020, he umpired the Dream 11 domestic T20 competition opening double-header between

Wellington Firebirds The Wellington Firebirds are one of six New Zealand men's first-class cricket teams that make up New Zealand Cricket. It is based in Wellington. It competes in the Plunket Shield first class (4-day) competition, The Ford Trophy domestic one da ...

and

Auckland Aces The Auckland cricket team represent the Auckland region and are one of six New Zealand domestic first class cricket teams. Governed by the Auckland Cricket Association they are the most successful side having won 28 Plunket Shield titles, ten ...

as both men's and women's sides were both featured. January 2023, he is currently umpiring in the Super Smash T20 women's competition.

Rheumatoid arthritis and umpiring style

Suffering from

, it was too painful for Bowden to signal a batsman out in the conventional fashion, with a straight index finger raised above the head, and this led to the "crooked finger of doom". He has also put his own slant on several other signals, including a "crumb-sweeping" wave of the arm to signal four, and the "double crooked finger six-phase hop" to signal a six. His signals are sedate in

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

, more flashy in ODIs and decidedly flamboyant in

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single innin ...

. His behaviour has attracted him both fans and critics almost equally.

Martin Crowe Martin David Crowe (22 September 1962 – 3 March 2016) was a New Zealand cricketer, Test and ODI captain as well as a commentator. He played for the New Zealand national cricket team between 1982 and 1995, and is regarded as one of the count ...

referred to him as Bozo the Clown, and at least one commentator has said he should remember that cricket is for the players and fans, not for the umpires. However, there was a suggestion that he needs to do the signals in the way he does because of his arthritis, as he needs to keep his body fluid.

References

External links

Billy Bowden
at Cricinfo. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowden, Billy 1963 births Living people New Zealand cricketers New Zealand Test cricket umpires New Zealand One Day International cricket umpires New Zealand Twenty20 International cricket umpires People educated at Westlake Boys High School

Early life and career

Rheumatoid arthritis and umpiring style

See also

References

External links