Simply Billy

     " Some eccentrics are born. Others thrust eccentricity upon themselves ". Step forward, Brent Fraser "Billy" Bowden, the New Zealand umpiring sensation who shot to fame with a zany array of embellished signals and a preposterous eye for showmanship. His signals are sedate in Tests, more flashy in ODI's and decidedly flamboyant in Twenty20.

That'a red card for ya

     Bowden used to be a player who turned to umpiring after the onset of rheumatoid arthritis in his early-twenties, Because of his 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". Suitably encouraged, he threw out the rule-book which states that the best cricket officials are the ones that go unnoticed, and added a whole host of whacky twists to his daily routine. The most celebrated of these is his hop-on-one-leg-and-reach-for-Jesus signal or the "double crooked finger six-phase hop" to signal a six ,"crumb-sweeping" wave of the arm to signal four, and he seems pre-programmed to pose throughout a match, even when ducking for his life as a pull-shot rockets through square-leg. For all the embellishments, his decision-making skills are almost without equal among the ICC's elite panel, although in 2007 he was suspended from standing at that year's inaugural Twenty20 World Championships, following his role in the farcical conclusion of the World Cup final in Barbados.

Out of here

     His behavior has attracted him both fans and critics alike. Martin Crowe has referred to him as Bozo the Clown, and at least one commentator has said he should remember that cricket is for the players, not for the umpires.

Lets call off, guys

     Bowden officiated his first One Day International on March 1995 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.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. In January 2007, Bowden became the youngest umpire to officiate in 100 ODIs during the New Zealand and Sri Lanka match at Hamilton, which corresponded exactly with his first ODI in 1995. Simon Taufel bettered that record a few days later.

These flies too..

lets not get into an issue guys...
 i am already done with these

Its okay! Sachin has just got
another century

      








  
But Billy boy hasn't been without 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. Earlier in 2005, in a survey conducted by the Australian Cricketers' Association, Australian cricketers voted Bowden the worst umpire in world cricket. In 2007, Bowden was among the four umpires and the match referee responsible for the "tragic and shambolic" final of that year's Cricket World Cup, and attracted further criticism in the same year He is gently lampooned in the Beige Brigade's weekly podcast, The BYC.

Too wide, my boy

After being hit by a ball

References
1. Wikipedia- the free encyclopedia
2. Cricinfo