Back in the 1980s I spent entire summers at the County Ground in Northampton watching cricket, and in 1986 I started taking a few photos – eventually leading to the hobby I have now.
These are my first cricket photos, taken with my dad’s compact camera – I didn’t move on to action photos until I got my first SLR in 1987 and borrowed his 300mm lens.
There are some big names, so not a bad start – legendary West Indies stars Clive Lloyd, Joel Garner and Viv Richards, as well as a certain Ian Botham.
The Garner/Richards/Botham shots were taken at Northants’ annual trip to play at Wellingborough School. In the Sunday League match, Botham (just back from a ban after he admitted smoking marijuana) hit 175no including 12 4’s and 13 6’s – remember that these were 40 over matches, and he only batted for 27 of them! OK, the ground was very small, but it was probably the most amazing innings I saw.
