Celebrity Speakers - Book inspirational and motivational speakers & entertainers for corporate, association & social events

Brent “Billy” Bowden was born in Auckland and is now a well known international cricket umpire. Billy is best known for his dramatic signalling style, including giving batsmen out with a strangely bent finger!

He first began his cricketing career as a player and then took up umpiring after suffering from arthritis in his early twenties.

In early 1995, Bowden was appointed to his first One Day International, which was played in Hamilton between Sri Lanka and New Zealand. He was then appointed his first test match umpire role in early 2000. In 2002 he joined the Emirates Panel of International Umpires and has umpired at several Cricket World Cups.

In January 2007, Bowden became the youngest umpire to officiate in 100 One Day Internationals, with the fixture between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Hamilton.

Bowden is known for providing entertainment for the crowd with his zany array of signals and showmanship and adds a level of ‘whacky’ twists to the role of umpiring the game of cricket.