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XtraTime Web Desk: Umpiring in cricket is a thankless job, one that requires tremendous patience and concentration. It can get quite taxing for the umpires officiating a cricket match both mentally as well physically. For viewers as well it can get a bit boring watching the umpires raise their dreaded index fingers every time a wicket falls. In 1995 a New Zealander brought an entertainment aspect with his umpiring skills. Former ICC Elite panel umpire Billy Bowden entertained fans all over the world with his crooked index finger. It soon turned out to be an instant hit with the fans as they started loving his on field actions. Bowden brought a comic relief for the fans during a tensed moment of a cricket match.

Bowden, who hails from a place called Henderson in the suburbs of Auckland, was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at an early age. It was due to this reason he cannot pursue his playing career. But at the same time the illness did not deter him from staying away from the game he loved so much. Bowden became an umpire in an effort to be involved with the game. The pain caused by arthritis did not allow Bowden to lift his index finger straight above the head and that is how the "crooked finger of doom" was born.

Billy felt the need of some entertainment with his umpiring skills. He started signaling sixes by standing on his one leg while lifting his both hands with the crooked finger. He used a sweeping action whenever a boundary was hit. Bowden was a livewire on the field and always ensured that the players and fans were equally entertained on the field.

Like every cricketer, umpires also pass through a bad phase. It happened to Billy Bowden twice as he was unceremoniously axed for the second time by the International Cricket Council (ICC) from its Elite panel in 2015-16 seasons. He was earlier dropped from ICC's elite panel in 2013 but made a return in 2014. He was omitted again after umpiring the test match between the West Indies and England in Barbados in May 2015. His name was not prescribed by New Zealand Cricket board since.

In a span of 21 years, Billy Bowden officiated in 84 tests and over 200 ODIs making him one of the most respected umpires the world of cricket has ever seen.