I remember my first encounter with Shane Warne, in 1993, when Australia were about to play their first match of the Ashes tour against an England Amateurs XI at Radlett, just north of London

Philip Brown

25-Feb-2013

I remember my first encounter with Shane Warne. It was 1993 and Australia were about to play their first match of the Ashes tour against an England Amateurs XI at Radlett, just north of London. Warne was signing autographs for children. I took some photographs and spoke to him about his ambitions for taking wickets in the upcoming Ashes series. I think I might have suggested something about him taking 20 wickets in the series and Warne appeared quite excited about getting anywhere near that figure.

I admit it wasn't the most interesting verbal exchange in the history of rivetting verbal exchanges but the point is I remember the first time I photographed and spoke to the bloke. Warne, I think it is fair to say, divides opinion. Some people adore him and some dislike him but you can't help respect Warne for everything he's achieved in the game. Personally, I do like him.

As an aside, I think this Radlett match was the only time I took my dog Molly to a cricket match I was photographing. She didn't enjoy being tethered to a fence and would communicate her displeasure by barking constantly. So apologies to anyone who sat in the posh tent at Radlett that day and were disturbed by a demented, but loveable, barking dog. I went to the other end of the ground which had better photographic backgrounds and was also significantly quieter.

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Pietersen fails to carry his bat

I'd never visited the UAE before January, so I was very happy to go and cover three Pakistan v England Test matches there

Philip Brown

25-Feb-2013

I'd never visited the UAE before January. I was very happy to go and cover three Pakistan v England Test matches. I didn't know much about the places I was going to visit, namely Dubai and Abu Dhabi, although I expected to see some sand and probably camels, and thought I might quaff less alcohol than normal. (In fact, weirdly, I'm in Dubai as I type this, on my way to Ahmedabad for a Test match that starts in about 48 hours.)

The first Test match was here in Dubai - when I say in Dubai I actually mean near Dubai, kind of out in the desert near lots of buildings that were 78% completed. "Why?" I hear one of you shout. Well if you're after a complex and informative explanation of the economics of the seven emirates that make up the UAE (United Arab Emirates) you've come to the wrong blog. Rupert Bumfrey might be a good place to start - I've just googled UAE economics on your behalf and his name has come up fairly high up the page. Rupert has a very good name. I tweet under the name Dudley Platypus but I am a tiny bit jealous of Rupert's name. Bumfrey is a fabulous surname, well done Rupert, not that you probably chose the name.

England struggled against Pakistan and in the second innings Kevin Pietersen was dismissed for a duck. I watched him through my lens as he started to leave the field and was quite surprised when he threw his bat up in the air and caught it a few seconds later. It produced an okay photo from my position but nothing that great. I was fortunate that I had put up a second camera near the television cameras with a 180mm lens on.

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Singing while snapping at the World Twenty20

I've just spent three weeks in Sri Lanka for Reuters, covering the World Twenty20. It was hard work but really very enjoyable

Philip Brown

25-Feb-2013

Well, that was fun!

I've just spent three weeks in Sri Lanka for Reuters, covering the World Twenty20. It was hard work but really very enjoyable. Lots of memories - there should be as I've only been back 12 hours. I normally forget things, but not that quickly.

I covered 20 men's matches and three women's games. Highlights and lowlights (in no particular order) as follows:

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The biggest cricket fan in India

Philip Brown

25-Feb-2013

My first trip to India to cover cricket was in 2006. I went as a freelance photographer and that meant for the most part I had to try and shoot photos from positions away from the agency photographers to still have a chance of selling some of my produce. Mumbai was the third Test of the England tour and I had a choice of either sitting with about 30 photographers in a lovely, comfortable shaded area or sitting with just two other snappers in the blazing heat. I obviously had to choose the hot end and by the end of each day I was so exhausted that I couldn't speak - and that's pretty unusual for me.

During this Test match, I photographed India's best known cricket fan whose name is Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary. He was watching the warm ups through a fence and with his painted face and his hair cut in a way so it represented a map of India he was an attractive subject to shoot. Sudhir didn't seem that keen to be photographed but I persevered with a long lens that morning and eventually took some frames that I was happy with.

When I returned to India in March 2011 as a Reuters photographer for the World Cup, Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary turned up for an India training session waving his giant flag. I was very keen to photograph his painted back with the name of his favourite player painted on it and Sudhir told me he was having some paint applied the next morning in preparation for the upcoming India match against the West Indies. In fact, Sudhir flies in the face of convention and seems only happy with gloss paint. I'm sure it's not good for him, we all know (ok, some of us then) what happened to the members of the group Kiss after they applied masses of make up for all those years. They're hideous now. That's you Simmons, Criss, Frehley and Stanley! Hideous.

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Strauss' Ashes ecstasy, framed

I've decided to jump on the Andrew Strauss bandwagon. He retired from all professional cricket just last week

Philip Brown

25-Feb-2013

I've decided to jump on the Andrew Strauss bandwagon. He retired from all professional cricket just last week. I photographed his first and his 100th Test match and many in between, probably about 90 of them. In fact, I'll attempt to throw in a photo of Straussy taken at Lord's just after his first Test as a bit of a bonus (it should appear relatively small in the middle of the blog if those lazy, useless ESPNcricinfo subs have decided to do things correctly for a change*). Two things to notice in the 'bonus' photograph - Strauss's luxurious 2004 mane, sadly no longer with us, and Nasser Hussain's disgustingly filthy socks.

The 2009 Ashes series was fiercely contested and England eventually triumphed when they won the final Test of the series at The Oval. I remember very clearly being out in the middle for the coin toss for that pivotal fifth Test. Ricky Ponting called either 'heads' or 'tails' (Okay, I don't remember it that clearly), and after the coin landed his face suddenly changed and he looked as if he had just witnessed his beloved dog being run over by an articulated lorry.

From that moment, after witnessing this amazing face change, I fully expected England to win the match and they duly did. It was also to be Andrew Flintoff's final appearance for England and his direct throw to run out Ponting on the final afternoon caused Ponting to recreate his squashed-dog-after-lorry-altercation expression.

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Compassionate KP

It's high time I attempted to bring Shot Selection right up to date. Some of the photographs that I've featured recently are over 15 years old so I thought I'd choose a shot from the last couple of weeks

Philip Brown

25-Feb-2013

The Headingley Test match in Leeds between England and South Africa finished in a draw and it proved to be an extremely interesting match. James Taylor played his first Test for England. However, the Test was overshadowed somewhat by an event 200 miles down the M1 called the Olympics.

By the way, if you're not familiar with the M1 it is one of Britain's most famous motorways. In fact it was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom and connects London to Leeds. If you ever find yourself on the M1 getting peckish I'd suggest Watford Gap as a good services to stop at. Leicester Forest isn't too bad either.

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Murali's 709th

In 2007, I headed to Sri Lanka for the England's three-Test series. It has always been a favourite place of mine to photograph and watch cricket

Philip Brown

25-Feb-2013

In 2007, I headed to Sri Lanka for the England's three-Test series. It has always been a favourite place of mine to photograph and watch cricket. Kandy was hosting the first Test, and is particularly enjoyable. I do love going to work in the back of a tuk tuk.

The build up to that Test was all about one man - Muttiah Muralitharan, who was only five dismissals short of breaking Shane Warne's world record of 708 Test wickets. There were huge photos of Murali around the ground and everyone was well aware of how close he was to becoming No. 1.

It was very important to me to capture that 709th wicket, and if I could capture the moment he broke the record from two positions, all the better. I usually use two cameras at Test matches - as well as having a long lens at ground level, I normally place a remote camera with a shorter lens in a high position. The remote camera should take a photo every time the button is pressed on the manned camera. Notice I used the word "should". Kandy is quite an unusual ground and didn't have any obvious spots straight down the wicket where a camera could be clamped or placed.

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Beach boy

Luck sometimes plays a huge part in photography. You can have lots of skill, knowledge and experience but sometimes you need elements that you cannot control to come together

Philip Brown

25-Feb-2013

Luck sometimes plays a huge part in photography. You can have lots of skill, knowledge and experience but sometimes you need elements that you cannot control to come together to help you capture a special photo.

In 2007 I decided to go to the Caribbean for the final fortnight of the very long cricket World Cup as a freelance photographer. Newspaper budgets had recently been squeezed and far less of them were likely to use photographs from a freelancer. I decided to travel in spite of this.

I covered just five one-day matches and as I'd accurately predicted beforehand it wasn't really a good idea to go financially. To put it simply I lost money.

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