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Billy Bowden
New Zealand
Personal information
Full name	Brent Fraser Bowden
Nickname	Billy
Born	11 April 1963 (1963-04-11) (age 44)
	Henderson, New Zealand
Umpiring information
Tests umpired	46 (2000–present)
ODIs umpired	124 (1995–present)
IT20s umpired	5 (2005–present)
As of 9 April 2008 Source: Cricket Archive Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_New_Zealand. ... The New Zealand cricket team, also known as the Black Caps, played their first Test in 1930 vs England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth Test nation. ... is the 101st day of the year (102nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1963 (disambiguation). ... Henderson is a major suburb of Waitakere City, in the Auckland metropolitan area in the North Island of New Zealand. ... An umpire in cricket (from the Old French Nompere meaning not equal, i. ... is the 99th day of the year (100th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance to the Gregorian calendar. ...

Brent Fraser "Billy" Bowden (born 11 April 1963) is an international cricket umpire from New Zealand and is known for his dramatic signalling style. He began his career as a player until he began to suffer from rheumatoid arthritis so took up umpiring. is the 101st day of the year (102nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1963 (disambiguation). ... This article is about the sport. ... In sports, an umpire is an official appointed to rule on plays and procedure. ... Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is traditionally considered a chronic, inflammatory autoimmune disorder that causes the immune system to attack the joints. ...

Career

In March 1995 Bowden was appointed to his first One Day International between New Zealand and Sri Lanka at Hamilton. 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 in South Africa, and was chosen to be the fourth umpire 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 is still a member. He reprised his role as fourth umpire in the final of the 2007 Cricket World Cup. A One-day International (ODI) cricket match is a one-day cricket match played between two international teams each representing a particular country. ... The Cricket World Cup is the premier international championship of mens One-Day International (ODI) cricket. ... Fourth umpire sometimes referred to as the reserve umpire, is a cricket official. ... 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 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was a mens cricket tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007, using the sports one-day international format. ...

Bowden was involved in an incident at the Brisbane Ashes test of 2006 in which, while standing at the square leg fielding position, Bowden was knocked to the ground by a ball which Geraint Jones had hit.^[1] Geraint Owen Jones MBE (b. ...

In January 2007, Bowden became the youngest umpire to officiate in 100 ODIs, with the fixture between New Zealand and Sri Lanka at Hamilton, which corresponded exactly with his first ODI in 1995. A few days later, however, Simon Taufel took the record of being the youngest umpire to officiate 100 ODIs. Simon James Arthur Taufel, (born 21 January 1971 in St Leonards, New South Wales), is a current international cricket umpire and a member of the ICC Elite umpire panel. ...

Views

In 2007, Bowden expressed a series of views in an interview with the The Telegraph [1].

Signals

Because of his arthritis, it was too painful for Bowden to signal a batsman out in the conventional fashion,^[2] with a straight index finger raised above the head, and this led to the "crooked finger of doom", yet he is able to adopt a straight index finger in almost every other hand movement. 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 also toned to the situation: in Tests he tries to be more sedate, while in ODIs he is more flamboyant, and is yet more flamboyant when it comes to Twenty20. For the womens version of the game, see Womens Test cricket. ...

These antics have attracted him both fans and critics alike. Martin Crowe has referred to him as Bozo the Clown, and many people^[who?] have said he should remember that cricket is for the players, not for the umpires^{[citation needed]}. Martin David Crowe (born September 22, 1962 in Henderson) is a former New Zealand cricket player. ...

Criticisms

In 2005, Bowden was criticised by the West Indies cricket team and his umpiring became the subject of a formal complaint by the West Indies Cricket Board. [2][3] Also in 2005, in a survey conducted by the Australian Cricketers Association, Australian cricketers voted Bowden the worst umpire in world cricket. [4][5][6][7][8]. In 2007, Bowden was among the four umpires and the match referee responsible for the final of the World Cup. [9] He is gently lampooned in the Beige Brigade's weekly podcast, The BYC. [10]

International Umpiring Statistics

Awards

ICC Bronze Bails Award for 100 ODIs.

References

1. ^ Quick Singles: Jones 1 Bowden 0. Cricinfo. Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
2. ^ Bowden breaks the mould. BBC. Retrieved on 2007-03-22.

Cricinfo is the largest cricket-related website and one of the largest websites in the world with more than 20 million users. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 81st day of the year (82nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 81st day of the year (82nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Billy Bowden at Cricinfo.

v • d • e ICC Elite Panel of Umpires
Aleem Dar • Asad Rauf • Mark Benson • Billy Bowden • Steve Bucknor • Billy Doctrove • Darrell Hair • Daryl Harper • Rudi Koertzen • Simon Taufel