SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY AS A SPECTATOR PART12: CRICKET

In a series of articles Fujifilm X Photographer Jeff Carter is shooting at sports events in the UK and showing how to capture great images with the Fujifilm X Series without the need for a media pass.

With the approach of the summer it seemed apt to choose that quintessential British summer sport for the twelfth and final Sports Photography as a Spectator feature – cricket. I travelled to the Emirates Riverside Stadium in County Durham for the opening Specsavers County Championship encounter of the 2018 season between Durham and Kent.

Cricket is played all across the country from spring until early autumn. Like all sports cricket is played at all levels from local cricket clubs, who play matches on the village green, right up to internationals. This summer England will be playing Pakistan in a series of tests and Australia in one day internationals but without a media pass these matches are not the best to capture with a camera due to the restrictions in place and limited shooting position.

Durham play in the first class league, the premiership if you want to refer to it in terms relating to soccer. However access for amateur photographers is certainly easier for cricket than it ever is in the top flight of the football premiership.

County Championship matches take place over four days and are at the mercy of the fickle British weather and if it rains, the play stops. Luckily the day I chose to travel to Durham the spring sunshine was glorious, if a little windy, and day one went ahead uninterrupted.

If possible attend the big matches on a week day when the stands are less busy. This will give you more options where you can take images from but always avoid getting in other spectators way when you are shooting.

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