Billy Bowden - Guest star

First things first. My real name is Brent but at school I was known as Billy, as in Billy the Kid or Billy Bunter, the latter because I was always eating and am lucky to be the sort of person who can eat like a horse and stay slim. The nickname stuck although my wife Jenny tends to call me Brent at home, especially if I go that one step too far! 

Secondly, I had aspirations to go all the way as a player. I was holding a cricket bat at five years of age and dreamt of wearing the silver fern. By the age of 23 I had made it to Auckland's first team squad as a middle order batsman and off-spinner, a genuine all-rounder. But then arthritis struck, and my whole life changed.

It came out of nowhere. Literally, within days of having an aching body, it was attacking my left wrist, my elbows, one hand and my fingers. Arthritis is not a death sentence, but it is a life-term. I'm a million miles better than I was during the worst period, some five years between 1986 and 1991 when I was taking so many pain-killing drugs, but it is still there, and it still causes me pain.

When I was first diagnosed it was a terrible shock. You don’t expect to contract arthritis at that age. My reaction was positive, though. Aided by my Christian faith I knew I had to get up from the floor and deal with it. I had rheumatoid-osteoarthritis and that meant I had a lot of hard yards ahead of me. I lost most of my ability as a cricketer and when I knew I wouldn't be able to give 100% I had to give it up. But I remained passionate about the sport, and I knew New Zealand cricket at that time was looking for young umpires. As one door shut, another door opened.

In 1989-1990 I started umpiring. Six years later I officiated in my first ODI and then, three years after that, in 2000, my first test match, which was Australia v New Zealand. People always want to know where my rather unique signals derived from. The answer is a mixture of circumstance and my affliction. I'd been asked to umpire a game of "Max" cricket between New Zealand and England in 1997 at the Mount Smart stadium in Auckland. This was the fore-runner to Twenty-20 and Martin Crowe, the former Kiwi player who had put it all together, asked me to my let hair down in keeping with the atmosphere of the game. I hadn't rehearsed or thought up any of my signs. They just came to me on the night. And so that's where my signal for "6" was born. The crooked finger, delivered when I'm giving someone out, was the result of the arthritis. I can partially straighten it out now, but everyone's got used to the crooked finger, so I've kept it.

The point is, some people think I'm a show pony, or "Bozo the Clown," but those who know me realise I take the game seriously but also that I have a passion for life and live it to the full. Getting arthritis at 23 probably had something to do with that. I love cricket and I deeply respect the role of the umpire, but if I can bring a smile to anyone watching a game as well then that's fine by me. It's a tough job, as the players appreciate, and you do as much as you can in terms of preparation to always get it right. But somewhere, in some match, the ball's got your name on it and there's nothing you can do. Players may not be happy at the time if an error is made, but they respect the umpires all the same, and that's how it should be. By the way, I'm never happy when I get it wrong, either. All I can do is to be the best I can be, try hard to ensure it is a rare occurrence.  

If anything, the players tend to make a joke out of it. I remember standing at square leg and being hit hard by a pull shot from Geraint Jones in early 2007 during the Ashes series. I pride myself on not being hit but my problem is I can't fall on my hands because my left wrist is locked straight from arthritis. Instead I try and roll on my shoulders. With this shot the ball just followed me and I knew, moments before impact, I had no chance. The fact that the ball hit my walkie-talkie strapped to my hip saved me. Four out of the eleven Aussie players came over to see how I was, which out of 11 players wasn't bad for a Kiwi umpire. When I saw Shane Warne, who was bowling, I told him I'd just saved him three runs. Shane replied: "Don't worry about the three runs, what about the 30 wickets you owe me."

Of course, when you are out in the middle you concentrate fully on your job. You may allow yourself a second to appreciate a great shot or catch, or a massive moment in the game which swings it one way or the other, but it is later that you take it all in. I can say it has been an honour and a privilege to have the best seat in the house and watch the likes of Warne and McGrath, Lara and Tendulkar, and all the modern greats go to work. As a former player you know a good shot when you see one, or a magnificent ball to remove a batsman.      

I've been lucky to umpire in so many great occasions, but there are a few boxes left to tick. I've been fourth umpire for both the world cup finals, and the world Twenty20 final, so these are two games I'd be delighted to officiate from the middle in. I'll be umpiring back in New Zealand over our summer and your winter, as well as assessing and observing up-and-coming Kiwi umpires back home.

I'll be watching my beloved All Blacks on TV when they play the Northern Hemisphere nations in November as well and hoping that in this current four-year cycle in between world rugby cups, they don't achieve what they always have for over 20 years, namely be the best team in the world except for three weeks every four years when the world cup is staged. Of course, in 2011 the world cup is being held in my own country, so if we don't win this time it will be pretty disastrous. Or maybe it won't. It is, after all, only a game and if life has taught me anything, it is to always keep a perspective on everything.

Some people will feel I've been very unlucky in life. I couldn't agree less. Arthritis has been the making of me. I'll never know if I would have made it as a professional cricketer. But I do know that arthritis has not only made me the person that I am, but allowed me the privilege to be travelling the world to this day, long after my playing days would be over, and playing a small part in a sport I love so much. Arthritis has been good for me. It really has. And I never would have thought I'd be saying this 23 years ago when I realised my life would change forever.   

Billy Bowden is a member of the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires and Match Referees, sponsored by Emirates Airlines – an official ICC Partner. 

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