Cricket: Meet the Mr Right of umpires

By TERRY MADDAFORD

After battling arthritis for years, Brent "Billy" Bowden admits he can now almost straighten his finger when giving the dreaded message to batsmen. But don't expect to see it.

"Why change," said Bowden. "Players know what it means ... Some think when they see the crooked finger they are only half out."

The bent finger will be on the big stage when Bowden joins 18 of the best umpires at next year's World Cup in South Africa. So will the other flamboyant signals which Bowden has seemingly marketed as his own.

Some hate this part of Bowden's makeup. Others love it and see it, particularly in the one-day arena, as adding to the occasion. More importantly, the players have no problem with his style.

Most in the domestic game here agree Bowden "gets it right more consistently than the rest".

And internationally, Bowden has support with Australian captain Steve Waugh happily going to bat for Billy.

"I consider Billy Bowden to be one of the finest umpires that I have had the pleasure of playing with in all my time in cricket," said Waugh. "He brings professionalism mixed with character to the game at the highest level.

"I am delighted to see he has been included in the World Cup."

Bowden follows Brian Aldridge, Steve Woodward, Steve Dunne and Doug Cowie as New Zealand umpires at the World Cup.

With two tests and 22 one-day internationals behind him, Bowden prefers to look ahead. In Hamilton as the fourth umpire for New Zealand's second test with India, he admits he enjoys being in the middle for both the shorter and longer versions.

"There is a different approach to one-day cricket but I am just as happy in four-day or test matches.

"In the one-dayers you can be more individualistic. You can express yourself."

So can the players - within limits.

The son of a Baptist minister, Bowden is no fan of the bad language which creeps into the game from time to time.

"Cricket is riddled with emotion and excitement. A snick or dropped catch can lead to sudden reactions.

"But a Christian or not, I don't think there is any place for swearing.

"To me, it says they [the players] are not in control. They are not concentrating on the job.

"I have told players at all levels, including tests, to tone it down. Having said that, the players, I feel, have a respect for umpires and not only for the decisions they make. By making a point, you are drawing a line which shows you are in control before things get out of hand.

"I'll always give them a little slack but players will always try umpires on. If you don't say anything they'll keep doing it," he said. "The spirit of the game is still most important."

Being a top-level umpire is a far cry from Bowden's early cricket.

A useful off-spinner and middle-order batsman, Bowden captained the Westlake Boys High School team for three years, including 1982 when he helped steer them to victory in the Auckland secondary schools championships with a must-win outright over Mt Albert Grammar.

"Justin Vaughan and I put on 100," said Bowden, who remembers he scored an unbeaten 65.

After leaving school in 1982, Bowden spent six months as a car groomer - a period that includes one of those moments you wish had never happened.

"I was given a brand new hatchback to take for a warrant of fitness and to put $40 of fuel in. Unfortunately, I filled it with diesel. Two days later I was on my way."

He had four summers back to back in the mid-80s playing league cricket in Manchester where, in his second season he broke the league's batting record, and club cricket for Takapuna. It was while playing for Takapuna he was cunningly lured away to join the umpires.

"[Well-known administrator] Graham Reddaway was umpiring a game where I had two good shouts for lbws from my arm ball.

"When I asked him about that a couple of years later he reckons he turned them [the appeals] down deliberately. He knew if he gave them I would want to keep playing. Instead, I quit and joined the umpires."

Born in Henderson but having stints in Tauranga, Milford and Orewa as his father moved from church to church, Bowden joined forces with TV One weatherman Jim Hickey and hockey-playing buddy Merv Huxford in the aptly-named Howzat Sport in Orewa.

When his umpiring allows, he maintains a company specialising in supplying sports goods to schools.

Always the opportunist, Bowden has enlisted a group of sponsors for New Zealand's umpires.

How did Brent become Billy?

"It started in the third form. Frano Botica and some of my other mates reckoned I was always first to the tuckshop so I suppose it was Billy Bunter. Later it was Billygoat and even Billy the Kid."

And food is still a passion, the reason Bowden is a keen gym man.

"Ice cream is my passion. I just love it. If I didn't go to the gym I wouldn't be able to see my feet. On a more serious note, it helps keep my arthritis in check."

Just the facts

Name: Brent Fraser Bowden

Born: April 11, 1963, Henderson

Playing career: Auckland B, 1984-85. Also played premier grade hockey for Hibiscus Coast.

First-class umpiring debut: Auckland v Northern Districts, Eden Park, 1991-92.

ODI debut: New Zealand v Sri Lanka, Hamilton, 1994-95.

Test debut: New Zealand v Australia, Eden Park, March 11, 2000.