Story: Cricket

Billy Bowden, umpire

Billy Bowden, umpire

Billy Bowden was New Zealand's leading professional umpire in the first decade of the 21st century, travelling the world to officiate in test matches and one-day games. The two umpires have a central role in a cricket match. They ensure that the rules are obeyed, and decide whether boundaries have been scored, no-balls have been bowled, or batsmen are out. They show their decisions through a set of established hand and arm signals. Billy Bowden achieved some celebrity through his extravagant and idiosyncratic signals, a few of which are shown in this photo sequence.  

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New Zealand Herald
Reference: 1103NZHAGBILLY.JPG
Photographs by Alan Gibson

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How to cite this page:

Don Neely, 'Cricket - What is cricket?', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/38279/billy-bowden-umpire (accessed 19 April 2024)

Story by Don Neely, published 5 Sep 2013, updated 1 Apr 2016