Billy Bowden

Brent Fraser "Billy" Bowden (born 11 April 1963) is a New Zealand cricket umpire and former cricketer. He was a player until rheumatoid arthritis forced him to retire. 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 match in the game between New Zealand and Australia in Wellington.

Early life and career
Bowden was born in the Auckland suburb of Henderson.

In March 1995, Bowden officiated 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 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.

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.

Rheumatoid arthritis and umpiring style
Suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, 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, more flashy in ODIs and decidedly flamboyant in Twenty20. His behaviour has attracted him both fans and critics almost equally. Martin Crowe 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.