 He had already stood in one first-class game, when he umpired a game between Glamorgan and HDG Leveson-Gower's XI in 1926, but his umpiring career proper spanned a single year, 1931, and lasted for 24 more matches.Most of his duties were on County Championship games, but they also included two tour matches by the New Zealanders and an end-of-season friendly game between Glamorgan and Nottinghamshire which was also Bowles' final match as an umpire.Bowles died at the age of 81 in Salisbury, Wiltshire.