Billy Bowden is perhaps less known for his umpiring skills and more for his inimitable style and lurid gestures on the field. He began as a cricketer, but in his early twenties became a victim of rheumatoid arthritis. The ailment forced him to retire from cricket as a player and take to umpiring.

From his crooked finger style of giving a batsman out to his jumping six signals, he has gone much against the rulebook. Unconventional to the core he doesn’t like to go unnoticed on the field. New Zealand’s former Test captain Martin Crowe, once described him as "Bozo the Clown".

ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed, however, believes that he represents "the next generation" of umpires. As for his umpiring goes, he has been criticized, off and on, for giving wrong LBW decisions.