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

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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 , , and , : (as evidenced in cricke ...

and former cricketer. He was a player until

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

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

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

match in the game between New Zealand and Australia in

Wellington Wellington 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 third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

Early life and career

Bowden was born in the

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

suburb of Henderson and was educated at Westlake Boys High School. In March 1995, Bowden officiated his first

between New Zealand and Sri Lanka at

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. 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 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup is a quadrennial world cup for cricket in One Day International (ODI) format, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament is one of the world's most viewed sporting events and consid ...

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, check ...

in the final between Australia and India. Shortly after this he was duly promoted to the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires, of which he was a member until 2013. He reprised his role as fourth umpire in the 2007 Cricket World Cup final 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. 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 until June 2016, when he was demoted to New Zealand's national panel. On 24 December 2020, he umpired the Dream 11 domestic T20 competition opening double-header between Wellington Firebirds and Auckland Aces as both men's and women's sides were both featured. In October 2023, Bowden become the first New Zealand umpire to officiate in 200 first-class matches. Suffering from

, Bowden is known for his distinctive umpire signalling and his "crooked finger dismissal". He has drawn both praise and criticism for his style, with Dave Richardson calling him "one of the best performers of the entire tournament", while Martin Crowe referred to him as a "'Bozo the Clown' character". In 2006, he headed a campaign to raise money and awareness about the disease.

References

External links

* {{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 Cricketers from Auckland

Early life and career

See also

References

External links