By Charles Randall
22 April 2013
The image of a club player features in one of the best entries for the Wisden-MCC cricket photograph of 2012 competition, won by Anthony Au-Yeung, a professional photographer from New Zealand.
The athleticism of the Zimbabwe wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu gave Au-Yeung his winning picture, but the freelance photographer Matt Bright impressed the judges with an incident from the MCC v Icogniti match at Lord's. Ashley Leat is shown dropping a more than gentle hint to the umpire that he should be credited with the run that was signalled leg-bye, a minor frustration known to every cricketer.
South Woodford CC batsman Leat, son of the former Club Cricket Conference bowler Norman Leat, finished as top-scorer for Incogs with 53 off 60 balls in an interesting drawn match. The quirky nature of the picture probably impressed the judges.
Au-Yeung's winning picture out of more than 300 entries shows the Zimbabwe wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu flying through the air preparing to throw the ball during the Twenty20 match against New Zealand in Auckland in February 2012. The strength of this offering would be the striking colours coupled with the sharply focused action away from the stumps.
Commenting on the winning image in the competition's third year, chairman of the judging panel Chris Smith said: "Any photographer would be delighted to have this wonderful picture in their portfolio. Action on the pitch can move at high speed, so for Anthony to spot what was happening and switch his attention from the batsman to focus on the wicketkeeper shows great understanding and expertise. His reward is a picture that truly merits the title Wisden–MCC Cricket Photograph of the Year."
Somenath Mukhopadhyay, a higher secondary school teacher in India, and Robert Cianflone, of Getty Images in Australia, were announced as runners-up. Mukhopadhyay's aesthetically pleasing picture shows children playing cricket on a dusty road during a winter evening after schools were shut for a break. Cianflone has captured Hashim Amla surviving a run out attempt in the third Test between Australia and South Africa at Perth. They each receive a £250 cash prize, plus a £400 Park Cameras voucher for Canon equipment.
The top three photographs are featured in the colour section of the 2013 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, and all of the shortlisted entries will be exhibited at Lord’s Cricket Ground. Au-Yeung’s winning image will also be reproduced in the MCC museum as part of the Wisden 150th Anniversary exhibition.
Au-Yeung bagged a £500 cash prize and £500 Park Cameras voucher for Canon equipment. His photograph was taken on a Canon EOS-1D mark IV, EF 600mm F/4L IS USM at F/4, ISO 2000. Reacting to news of the award, he said: "It is a huge honour in winning this competition, I was really flattered when I first heard the news, and it is always gratifying when your work is recognised, especially when the judges are such experienced photographers. This is my first ever international win, so I guess the feeling is like winning a Test series... It is such a thrill and means a lot, one I will never forget."
Among the short-listed pictures on the Lord's website it is worth looking at Mark Kolbe's remarkable shot of Ricky Ponting being bowled by Jacques Kallis, wondering how a great batsman could be reduced to such a tangle.
The eight images on the shortlist of entries are Matt Bright (Ashley Leat bat-eating), Lee Booth (a girl bats in front of a "stop war" mural as part of a Uganda Cricket Association, Cricket Without Boundaries, and ICC project), Phil Brown (Chris Wright bowls Alan Richardson), Stu Forster (Craig Kieswetter survives a stumping appeal), Mark Kolbe (Ricky Ponting is castled by Jacques Kallis), Tom Shaw (big England appeal in the slips), Richard Stokes (watching cricket in Croatia), Sarah Williams (spectators eye a flying ball anxiously at Lord's).
https://www.lords.org/latest-news/news-archive/photo-of-the-year-announced,2723,NS.html