A photo taken at Nottinghamshire's 2022 pre-season photocall has triumphed in the Wisden Photograph of the Year Awards.
Matthew Lewis’s photo of players and coaching staff caught in a Trent Bridge blizzard has been announced as the winner of the coveted prize, having been chosen by an expert panel.
Chris Smith, chair of the panel and former chief sports photographer of The Sunday Times, said: “It’s always good to see a picture that brings a smile, as this one certainly does. If the snow flurry had arrived five minutes earlier, surely they would have waited until it stopped. And if it had arrived five minutes later, we would have been denied a most unusual and humorous picture.”
Patrick Eagar, also on the panel, said: “There’s something about the contradiction – it being taken just as the season starts. The team group are perfectly composed, the subjects are in their best kit, and the photographer has them lined up to perfection. Only it’s still winter!”
Lewis, who is the first to claim the award twice, after winning in 2014, has been a professional photographer for more than 20 years; he was working for Getty Images when he took the picture.
“It’s a real honour to win the Wisden Photograph of the Year,” said Lewis.
“The competition means so much to me, having been a previous winner and runner-up. It was a bright spring morning for the pre-season photocall, though we knew snow was possible. And, just as everyone had got into position, it began. I think the expressions on their faces – especially Stuart Broad’s – sums it all up!”
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