By Charles Randall

18 May 2015


The name of Bexley CC will be part of the Lord's cricket scene through the summer after a picture from a match last year featured in the short list of the Wisden–MCC Cricket Photograph of the Year 2014 competition.

The competition attracted more than 400 pictures from around the world and as usual included many entries from amateur photographers, including one by Andy Clay that grabbed the judges' attention. His image captured a moment when the Bexley fielder Joe Russell went close to holding a leaping one-hand catch on the boundary in a second-team game.

Clay's picture drew special praise from the judges' chairman, and Bexley's moment of posterity will be on view at Lord's along with the other short-listed entries. Bexley's fine start to the Kent Premier League season has only added to the feeling that it might be 'their' year, even though Russell himself began in the third team. 

An image of Dwayne Bravo taking a full-length diving catch in mid-air was named as the winner. Snapped by Getty Images photographer Matthew Lewis, it shows Bravo stretching to dismiss the Australian batsman James Faulkner during the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 competition in Bangladesh. This was a worthy winner, taken from cricket action, which usually requires skill, patience and a fair degree of luck. At last the judges seemed to have shied away from pictures of celebrations or appeals, the lazy way to depict so-called action and 'emotion'.

The two runners-up were the South African photographer Morne de Klerk, of Getty Images – a slightly surprising choice of Australia and South Africa’s players leaving the field at the end of day three of the Second Test at Port Elizabeth – and Matthew Lewis again, showing Nurul Hasan, of Bangladesh A, looking despairingly at his scattered stumps after being bowled by the South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn during an ICC World Twenty20 warm-up match in Bangladesh. Lewis became the first photographer to earn winner and runner-up recognition in the same year.

The 2014 top 11 pictures, on display at Lord's, captured all types of cricket, including a game on Mount Kilimanjaro. Other images featured broken bats, broken noses and a poignant portrait of the late Phillip Hughes. The winner and two runners-up are featured in the colour section of the 2015 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.

The judging panel was chaired by Chris Smith, former chief sports photographer of the Sunday Times. The panel included the world-renowned cricket photographer Patrick Eagar and the award-winning sports photographer Bob Thomas. Smith said: “The standard of photographs in this year’s competition was outstanding, and Matthew Lewis’ image is a worthy winner. We also saw a very strong selection of entries from amateur photographers, which is always encouraging, and I’m pleased that Andy Clay’s fantastic shot made it on to the short list.” 

Lewis, looking back on his Bravo shot, said: “I had just returned to my pitch-side position after taking photos of the crowd and this was my first picture after sitting back down. Dwayne Bravo first fumbled the ball facing away from me but then twisted around 180 degrees and took a terrific catch. My focus had been on the batsman, but I swiftly switched to Bravo to capture his outstretched hands as he held on to the ball. It was an amazing catch and it was great to have captured it.”

The new sponsors JP Morgan increased the prize fund, doubling the winner to £2,000 and lifting the two runners-up to £1,000 each. The other eight short-listed entrants received £250.