By DEBORAH DIAZ
Billy Bowden has retired hurt - but he'll be back in time for summer.
The flamboyant cricket umpire from Browns Bay is recovering from operations on his elbows to combat crippling arthritis.
The inflammation in the joints got so bad that the world's youngest test umpire had only 30 per cent mobility in his arms
They had become permanently bent, cramping his style on and off the field.
"I was fed up with the pain and was living life with a pretty short wick," he said yesterday.
The operations, to smooth bones at the joint, should more than double his range of movement.
"No one will be able to say they can't tell the difference between my signal for a wide or a no ball, or between a four and a six."
The arthritis is a lasting effect of a virus which "hit him for six" 14 years ago. The pain eventually ended his career in Auckland's B side - but gave New Zealand an irrepressible, wriggling umpire.
"I loved the game, and wanted to stay involved."
Bowden's theatrics captured the hearts and imaginations of the one-day crowds, but he sometimes had to take anti-inflammatories so he could do his trademark arm-twirling.
Some people thought his ostentatious style - remember the tango steps? - might keep him out of cricket's serious side, but last year he umpired his first test, New Zealand against India.
The extroverted 37-year-old son of a Baptist Minister accepts his condition as part of the ultimate umpire's plan.
"I've got faith in the big 'G'," he says. "He's been good to me and changed my life around. I believe there's a reason for what each of us got, and that's what gets me through the difficult times."
Howzat! Billy's bouncing back
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