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Billy Bowden's reaction to critics....

Zinzan

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Billy brushes off blunders
21 February 2005
By JONATHAN MILLMOW

Flashy New Zealand umpire Brent "Billy" Bowden denies he and Daniel Vettori have a fractured relationship and are on a collision course in the second one-day international in Christchurch tomorrow.


Speaking exclusively to The Dominion Post, Bowden staunchly defended his mixed performance in the series opener between New Zealand and Australia in Wellington on Saturday night.

Bowden appeared to make two mistakes in Australia's nailbiting 10-run victory, one of which was declining a vociferous leg before wicket appeal by Vettori against Matthew Hayden.

Television replays also showed Bowden mistakenly gave Hayden not out when he gloved a leg-side delivery from Kyle Mills when on 31. Hayden went on to top-score with 71.

"I'll have a look at the highlights, my sister tapes them for me, but whenever I umpire I do so to the best of my ability," Bowden said.

"As a batsman or an umpire a ball always has your number on it and if I made a mistake, so be it."

Bowden claimed his relationship with Vettori would start from scratch at Jade Stadium, despite numerous exchanges on Saturday afternoon.

Vettori snatched his cap from Bowden in disgust at the end of the Hayden appeal over and their running battle came to a head at the completion of Vettori's 10-over spell.

Vettori and Bowden appeared to debate the merits of their respective performances and the issue was only resolved – in the short term at least – by the intervention of New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming.

Bowden declined to elaborate on what was said but The Dominion Post understands Bowden was concerned at Vettori's behaviour and Vettori in turn felt he could have been shown the respect due to someone playing his 147th match.

"After 10 overs players get frustrated with the way they have bowled or the way decisions went," Bowden said. "I talked to Stephen and we got on with the game. I haven't got a problem with Dan, I've umpired him a long time and I think we have mutual respect.

"There won't be a problem in Christchurch, in fact I hope he bowls at my end. I would be disappointed in myself if I couldn't be professional and look any player in the eye the next day. The cap thing wasn't a big issue. I've had guys almost rip my elbow off, Dan's was just a little tickle."

AdvertisementAdvertisementA stony-faced Fleming steered clear of the umpiring debate but it continues like a raging bush fire, with former test captains Ken Rutherford and Martin Crowe wading into the fertile ground in their respective Sunday newspaper columns yesterday.

Rutherford claimed Bowden had become too familiar with the Australians while Crowe felt the umpire was suffering from fatigue.

Their criticism, though more direct than recent outbursts from former test opener Mark Richardson and Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer, maintains a recurring theme of subconscious bias by the elite umpires toward Australia.

Woolmer claimed his team was on the wrong end of a 29-5 count in 50-50 calls in Australia while New Zealand returned home in December on the wrong side of the umpiring ledger 11-2.

On Saturday alone, three dubious calls went Australia's way – the other involving Fleming when he was adjudged by Pakistan's Aleem Dar to be leg before wicket to Brett Lee when the ball was headed down the leg side.

Bowden said he was aware the spotlight was firmly on the umpires but took umbrage at Rutherford's claims that he saw too much of Australia.

"I don't appoint myself to umpiring Australia, that is the ICC," Bowden said.

"It can be a heads and tails thing. If you are umpiring a team you know it can help because you learn how certain players bat and how they bowl.

"With the bowlers you understand how they bowl and what angle they come from.

"Before any game you do your stats and you often know how many times a certain players has been out lbw or caught behind recently. The more you do of one side the more you learn about their strengths and weaknesses.

"Having said all that, whenever you walk out into the middle you are always operating in the `now'."


Interesting article.....My opinion is that Billy is too familar with the Aussies, so much so he can't see it himself. I reckon Vettori's LBW for example would have been given straight away if it were Warne appealing.

Any thoughts/rections to the article
 

MoxPearl

State Vice-Captain
i think billy is one of the best umpires in the world without a doubt..

However he did have a shocker at wellington.. but all umpires do have shockers now and then.

Also.. why are we not having netural umpires... althou its not like it matters with billy.. we would have been better with a aussie umpire :P lol
 

Zinzan

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MoxPearl said:
i think billy is one of the best umpires in the world without a doubt..

However he did have a shocker at wellington.. but all umpires do have shockers now and then.

Also.. why are we not having netural umpires... althou its not like it matters with billy.. we would have been better with a aussie umpire :P lol
yeah...any umpire can make the odd mistake. My prob with Bowden is that so few of his 50/50 decisions seem to go against Aust in last few years , only against other teams. I can't think of many of his wrong decisions have worked against Aussie.
 

Scallywag

Banned
Wasnt Bowden umpiring when Watson was given out off a full toss that was above waist height in the first final a couple of weeks ago.
 

cricket player

International Debutant
billy bowden sucks,If an umpire gives 2 decisions wrong in one match this it is all right,but if you give 4 wrong in one match then i dont count to be one of the best in world,aint that right fiery?
 

Fiery

Banned
cricket player said:
billy bowden sucks,If an umpire gives 2 decisions wrong in one match this it is all right,but if you give 4 wrong in one match then i dont count to be one of the best in world,aint that right fiery?
;)
 

chaminda_00

Hall of Fame Member
Scallywag said:
Wasnt Bowden umpiring when Watson was given out off a full toss that was above waist height in the first final a couple of weeks ago.
If my memory is right he was at the bowler's end not sqaure leg where the decision should of been made.
 

Mr Mxyzptlk

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cricket player said:
billy bowden sucks,If an umpire gives 2 decisions wrong in one match this it is all right,but if you give 4 wrong in one match then i dont count to be one of the best in world,aint that right fiery?
So you'd base your opinion of an umpire on one match? An umpire looks at more than 2700 balls in a typical Test match and must maintain focus for each delivery. Yes we should have high expectations from our umpires, but also consider just how easy it is to make a mistake. A lot of decisions which seemingly go the wrong way in cricket are not as clear cut as some would like to believe. Personally I don't consider Bowden one of very best, but he's better than most.
 

chaminda_00

Hall of Fame Member
cricket player said:
billy bowden sucks,If an umpire gives 2 decisions wrong in one match this it is all right,but if you give 4 wrong in one match then i dont count to be one of the best in world,aint that right fiery?
Do u rate players on one game, i didn't think. If u don't rate players on one game then don't rate umpires on one game. Billy form as an umpire isn't as good as it was in the WC and just after but he set pretty high standards back then and it is pretty hard to keep those standards. Overall his umpiring has been allot better then most umpires going around. He probably has umpired Australia too much but that is what happens when u are one of the top 4 umpires. I doubt his umpired Australia more then Shep, Rudi or Bouknor.
 

cricket player

International Debutant
chaminda_00 said:
Do u rate players on one game, i didn't think. If u don't rate players on one game then don't rate umpires on one game. Billy form as an umpire isn't as good as it was in the WC and just after but he set pretty high standards back then and it is pretty hard to keep those standards. Overall his umpiring has been allot better then most umpires going around. He probably has umpired Australia too much but that is what happens when u are one of the top 4 umpires. I doubt his umpired Australia more then Shep, Rudi or Bouknor.
I dont care What he has done in australia,once you step in,in a international level you should be know what you are doing,

He is a joker rather then a proper umpire,making fun of himself when ever a batsman hits a four,pulling his legs rather then his hands to give as a sign it was four,billy bowden is probably the worst umpires of the 21 centurie,I dont care if he is funny,It is not funny for those batsmans when they given out when they are not out so considere billy bowden to be a bad umpire of the centurie :p
 

chaminda_00

Hall of Fame Member
cricket player said:
I dont care What he has done in australia,once you step in,in a international level you should be know what you are doing,

He is a joker rather then a proper umpire,making fun of himself when ever a batsman hits a four,pulling his legs rather then his hands to give as a sign it was four,billy bowden is probably the worst umpires of the 21 centurie,I dont care if he is funny,It is not funny for those batsmans when they given out when they are not out so considere billy bowden to be a bad umpire of the centurie :p
Has Billy made a bad decision yet today, it doesn't matter how u make ur signals all that matter is how accurate ur decisions are. Compared to other umpires his decision genrally are better.
 

Buddhmaster

International Captain
I have no idea what happened just before. Hussey ran about 3 metres in the middle of the pitch and then went off it, and Billy cancelled the run out.
 

cricket player

International Debutant
Buddhmaster said:
I have no idea what happened just before. Hussey ran about 3 metres in the middle of the pitch and then went off it, and Billy cancelled the run out.
He is just trying to change the face of umpiring,I think he just an awful umpire,
and chaminda 00 I dont care if he did not make a bad decision,but he atleast has givin 200 decisions wrong with umpiring career sofar lets see what happens when new zealand bat :)
 

chaminda_00

Hall of Fame Member
cricket player said:
He is just trying to change the face of umpiring,I think he just an awful umpire,
and chaminda 00 I dont care if he did not make a bad decision,but he atleast has givin 200 decisions wrong with umpiring career sofar lets see what happens when new zealand bat :)
200 wrong decsion u have to be kidding me, the only International umpire who has made that many bad decsion is Darell Hair. What is so bad about a bit of charater in umpires, there all human being and have different personalities. What wrong with their personalities coming out on the field of play. Im sure that Billy will get more people wanting to become umpires then even the best umpire i've ever seen Dicky Bird. All the guys in my team and the guys that i have played aganist in the last two season all try and copy the signals of Billy or tey and make better ones. He is making umpiring more appectable in wider cricket public and there is nothing wrong with that.
 

benchmark00

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cricket player said:
He is just trying to change the face of umpiring,I think he just an awful umpire,
and chaminda 00 I dont care if he did not make a bad decision,but he atleast has givin 200 decisions wrong with umpiring career sofar lets see what happens when new zealand bat :)
Well supported argument 8-)
 

howardj

International Coach
I think Billy Bowden likes to be liked by the Aussie players. For instance, his hugging of Steve Waugh and posing with him for photographs after his Sydney swansong last year, was the most cringeworthy display from an umpire ever. Subconsciously I think his desire to be liked by the Aussie players has a bearing on his umpiring.
 
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Fiery

Banned
howardj said:
I think Billy Bowden likes to be liked by the Aussie players. For instance, his hugging of Steve Waugh and posing with him for photographs after his Sydney swansong last year, was the most cringeworthy display from an umpire ever. Subconsciously I think his desire to be liked by the Aussie players has a bearing on his umpiring.
You're onto it
 

cbuts

International Debutant
he is the best umpire in the world. he had a mare on saturday, as players and umpires in all sports do.
 

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