Bowden was born in the
Auckland suburb of
Henderson and was educated at
Westlake Boys High School. In March 1995, Bowden officiated his first
One Day International between New Zealand and Sri Lanka at
Hamilton. In March 2000 he was appointed his first Test match as an on-field umpire, and in 2002 he was included in the Emirates Panel of International Umpires. A year later he was asked to umpire at the
Cricket World Cup in South Africa, and was chosen to be the
fourth umpire in the final between Australia and India. Shortly after this he was duly promoted to the Emirates
Elite Panel of ICC Umpires, of which he was a member until 2013. He reprised his role as fourth umpire in the
2007 Cricket World Cup final Bowden was involved in an incident at the 2006 Brisbane Ashes test while standing at the square leg fielding position, when knocked to the ground by a ball hit by
Geraint Jones. He was selected as one of the twenty umpires to stand in matches during the
2015 Cricket World Cup. He was a member of the
International Panel of Umpires and Referees until June 2016, when he was demoted to New Zealand's national panel. On 24 December 2020, he umpired the Dream 11 domestic T20 competition opening double-header between
Wellington Firebirds and
Auckland Aces as both men's and women's teams were both featured. In October 2023, Bowden become the first New Zealand umpire to officiate in 200 first-class matches. Suffering from
rheumatoid arthritis, Bowden is known for his distinctive umpire signalling and his "crooked finger dismissal". He has drawn both praise and criticism for his style, with
Dave Richardson calling him "one of the best performers of the entire tournament", while
Martin Crowe referred to him as a "'Bozo the Clown' character". ==See also==