Tom Shaw reclaims cricket from stereotypes and sensationalism with grounded sports photography

When you look up cricket on Getty Images, you’ll see sensationalist images – lens flare, huge dramatic angles and blistering action shots. The movie idea of cricket. But before Getty Images, Google Images or digital stock photos, there was Allsport, the world’s largest sports photography agency. A former employee of the aforementioned is Tom Shaw, a veteran photographer whose new photobook Portrait of Cricket is representing cricket without all of the dramatics but more so the subtler dramaturgy of community, British sports and what makes a cricket ground.

After Allsport was acquired by Getty Images, it only made sense that Tom would return to the grassroots beginnings of cricket. “Having spent almost 20 years shooting cricket at the top level, I went back to playing cricket – at almost the very bottom level – and realised that the game is full of characters,” says Tom. So, of course he did what he knew best: photography.

“The other aspect of shaping the project came from the current visual record – grassroots cricket.” Often pejoratively referred to as ‘village cricket’, Tom’s photography captures the essence of community sports in leafy, bucolic greens home to pubs and churches, as opposed to the dedicated grounds he shot in the past. Finding grounds frequented by workplace cricket teams, he also discovered selfmade arenas that smelt of DIY sports and working class sincerity. “The biggest takeaway is just how much community spirit the game brings to people,” he says.

“Everything was shot in natural light, nothing was lit artificially,” says Tom, who in Portrait of Cricket doubles as a type of nature photographer. The project captures the character of Great Britain in signature milky skies, clusters of clouds, smatterings of sunlight and in one of the book’s most striking images, ghostly fogs. “It was too foggy to play but to my amazement the game went ahead as both teams wanted to try and get the points to get promoted,” Tom reveals. “It was cold, damp, windy and is normally everything that cricket isn’t!” In another photo, Tom shoots at the Winnington C.C cricket ground which features the oppressive presence of a huge factory looming behind, engulfing the players as they play on, a testament to the endearing smallness of community sports.

Tom’s previous work shooting surfing and Scottish landscapes informs the ambient tint to these photos. Instead of prime time televised cricket action, there’s a far more tender emotional sensitivity here, revealing characters, histories and passions through expression and pathetic fallacy. Absent from official cricket grounds, suburban architecture plays a key role, tying each and every game to home and work. Overpasses carry trucks whilst factories billow smoke. The world lives and breathes in Tom’s book, which is flavoured with nostalgia and kitchen sink realism. What’s next for Tom is the rest of the world. “Cricket in India is an obsession, so it would be fascinating to go back there and really uncover what makes it tick,” says Tom. “And also Australia – the outback would be a great place to shoot, the light and the people would be extraordinary.”