Et Al Pics: Pink zinc on green

Things go wrong when Philip Brown borrows Steve Waugh's Baggy Green

Steve W photo - Nikon D1X digital camera, Nikon 70-200mm lens.

I was really happy with the Steve Waugh shot I took in Adelaide but to me it only really worked after a precise crop. In my opinion including only half of Steve’s face and the embroidered ‘Australia’ on the cap made it work well.  The cap and I have some history.  Let me elaborate.

I took a photograph of my young son Rory just before an Ashes series back in 1997. At the time I was working for the UK broadsheet newspaper The Daily Telegraph and covering quite a lot of cricket. I was asked by the (likeable) Deputy Sports Editor, Keith Perry to come up with a photograph to preview the Ashes and my idea was to get hold of an England and Australia cap and shoot them at Lord's with a replica urn. It wasn't the most inspiring idea but Keith and his team seemed fairly happy with it.

I easily purchased an England cap from the Lord's shop and my next task was to obtain an Aussie "baggy green".  I covered an Australia warm-up match in Bristol and after play I drove to the team hotel to ask the team manager about borrowing a baggy green. He went off to have a look, and as I waited in the foyer, Steve Waugh, whom I already knew well, came over for a chat.