I have been fortunate to witness and capture some defining moments which dominated our back pages in 2022. Our weekly unseen galleries have followed Bradley Ormesher and I on our journey photographing the sublime to the ridiculous of sport. It is the unseen sports which have fascinated me, those which countless thousands of people around the country have participated in each week. By giving the narrative behind these unseen pictures I hope that, as well as showcasing defining moments in world-class sports, we are able to showcase those that happen at our local clubs. For me, this is both the secret and the success of Times Sport Unseen and may I also echo Bradley’s words in thanking all those who contribute with such positive and thoughtful comments each week.
Marc writes: This frame was taken on January 9, 2022 as Harpenden Under-16 hosted Teddington Under-16. The artificial 4G pitch offers Harpenden RFC almost year-round use for men’s and women’s senior and junior teams in my home town. The light was simply too much of a draw for me that Sunday afternoon in mid-winter and here is the first example of Lady Luck joining me as the ball is captured mid-flight among the charging shadows of the players.
Equipment used: Canon EOS R3 using RF70-200mm lens (set at 102mm) 1/2000th sec f8. ISO 400.
Marc writes: My year of covering sport starts with a traditional visit to the Cheltenham Festival in March and using my trusty old 90mm tilt-and-shift lens as the runners and riders charge up the main straight with Cleeve Hill as the backdrop.
Equipment used: Canon EOS-1D X MKIII using 90mm tili-and-shift lens. 1/3200th sec f2.8. ISO 400.
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Marc writes: Even though this frame was taken in 2019, I have included this in my collection of favourite unseen photographs in 2022 as Shane Warne passed away in March. There were many stories which defined sport in 2022 but none more shocking than when news broke on March 4 of the sudden and unexpected death of cricket legend Warne after a heart attack, aged only 52. This photograph, as Warnie adjusts his MCC tie on the steps of Lord’s Pavilion, means a great deal to me as it simply encapsulates everything about the late great Warne.
Equipment used: Canon EOS-1D X MKIII using 24-70mm wide angle lens (set at 59mm) 1/500th sec f4.5. ISO 320.
Marc writes: After a three-year, Covid-enforced absence, the Women’s Varsity match between Oxford University and Cambridge University returned to Twickenham. Again, as the light in the spring sunshine was so soft, I ventured to the top row of the North Stand to be able to photograph the match using the tilt-and-shift lens which gives a strange Subbuteo effect.
Equipment used: Canon EOS-1D X MKIII using 90mm tilt-and-shift lens, 1/5300th sec 3.5. ISO 400.
Marc writes: The Parc des Princes, home to Paris Saint-Germain, who were playing Metz in Ligue 1. I wanted to photograph the old stadium, which sits directly above the Boulevard Périphérique, in a unique way. I somehow managed to persuade the humourless gendarmerie to allow me to stand on a footbridge specifically for this image. By balancing my Canon R3 camera on a railing, using a 16-second exposure, then by swirling my camera around, I managed to capture this rather exotic and colourful picture.
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Equipment used: Canon EOS R3 using RF24-70mm (set at 24mm) 16 seconds at f16. ISO 100.
Marc writes: Of course my unseen collection could not exclude the Leicester Tigers as they celebrated winning the Gallagher Premiership. I have supported the Tigers since I was a small boy and when George Ford finally arrived in the dressing room the place erupted into a cascade of spraying champagne. This frame shows the disorganised chaos of celebration and I was covered in champagne too — but I did not mind one bit!
Equipment used: Canon EOS R3 using RF15-35mm lens (set at 18mm) 1/800th sec f2.8. ISO 4000.
Marc writes: I grew up watching Coventry Bees at Brandon Speedway Stadium and have always been fascinated by the sport. I visited Peterborough Panthers racing against Belle Vue Aces at the East of England Arena and it rekindled my love of speedway. I am happy to report that after a very long-running and protracted campaign to save Brandon Stadium from property developers, a motion was refused to turn the stadium into a huge estate of 124 houses by Rugby Borough Council Planning Committee in November.
Equipment used: Canon EOS R5 using RF24-70mm lens (set at 62mm) 1/1300th sec f2.8. ISO 5000.
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Marc writes: It seems all lenses at the French Open were pointed at Emma Raducanu, so I photographed her unmistakable shadow. She was defeated by Aliaksandra Sasnovich 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 on Court Suzanne Lenglen but the long shadows cast by the late afternoon Parisian sunshine again proved irresistible.
Equipment used: Canon EOS R3 using 400mm lens. 1/5300th sc f5.6. ISO 400.
Marc writes: Another defining sports story as June 9 will be recorded as the day golf’s landscape changed for ever. At the Centurion Golf Club near St Albans history was made as LIV Golf announced itself to the world. Greg ‘The Shark’ Norman, the two-times Open champion, became the chief executive of LIV Golf, which is funded by Saudi Arabia. Sergio García, Dustin Johnson, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter were among the big names in Hertfordshire, where a cool $20 million (about £16.6 million) was divided among the 48 players in the field, with $5 million (about £4.2 million) split around the top-three teams. Nice work if you can get it.
Equipment used: Canon EOS R3 using 200-400mm lens (set at 210mm) 1/2000th sec f5.6. ISO 400.
Marc writes: The timeless and elegant game of croquet made its debut in an unseen gallery in June. While at the prestigious Hurlingham Club in west London I concentrated on capturing this rather quintessential British sport. I have tried very hard to feature sports ranging from croquet, skateboarding, speedway, NFL, bowls, local football and cricket, fishing and even surfing as I firmly believe that our unseen galleries should showcase those sports often go unnoticed yet are participated by countless thousands.
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Equipment used: Canon EOS R3 using 16-35mm lens (set at 35mm) 1/2000th sec f10. ISO 200.
Marc writes: My local sporting clubs of Harpenden Cricket Club, Harpenden Town FC and various golf clubs have been a source of many unseen images this year. Here I parked my 1967 Rover P5b on Harpenden Common to watch the 1st XI. I was joined by a dad and son and a chap on a bench. Perfect unseen moment.
Equipment used: Canon Powershot G16, 1/1000th sec f2. ISO 200.
Marc writes: In my three decades at The Times I have never been able to photograph the women’s final from this position. Usually reserved for Chelsea Pensioners, who now sit happily at ground level on Centre Court, there are only eight seats available and I grabbed one of them as Elena Rybakina and Ons Jabeur contested a fiercely competitive final. Again, Lady Luck sat with me as — while using a 15mm fisheye lens to capture an enormous general view — the extravagant Jabeur played a “hotdog” shot when sprinting back, unleashing a perfect stroke between her legs.
Equipment used: Canon EOS R3 using 15mm fisheye lens. 1/4000th sec f6.3. ISO 400.
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Marc writes: As temperatures reached 33C on the top of South Downs, the Broadhalfpenny Brigands hosted MCC in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the original first-class cricket match, which took place in June 1772. It had been played between Hampshire and England at Broadhalfpenny Down, Hambledon, where I lay this year on the scorching turf to capture a scene in cricket which I have never been able to before — a batsman playing in total solitude.
Equipment used: Canon EOS R3 using 200-400mm zoom lens (set at 247mm) 1/2000th sec f5.5. ISO 200.
Marc writes: As you might have gathered by now, I rather chase the light — or rather the light and shade. One afternoon when I was courtside during the beach volleyball at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, I sprinted to the top of the grandstand as the dark clouds came rolling in over Smithfield, Birmingham, before a break of sunshine illuminated the golden sand. Scotland’s Lynne Beattie and Mel Coutts faced the brilliant Australian pair of Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy during a thrilling quarter-finals match.
Equipment used: Canon EOS R3 using RF24-70mm wide angle lens (set at 24mm) 1/2700th sec, f8. ISO 200. Using LEE graduated filters.
Marc writes: These photographs remind me of the heatwave in the UK during the summer. Dozens of records were smashed and the temperature reached a high of 40.3C in Lincolnshire. The first hole at Aldwickbury Park Golf Club in Harpenden was parched but the green remained an oasis of colour and then, just a month later, the same view afforded plush green fairways and fields.
Equipment used: canon EOS R3 using RF70-200mm (at 147mm) 1/1600th sec f5.6. ISO 200.
Marc writes: Even when on holiday on the beautiful island of Brac, Croatia, I seem never to stop searching for unseen pictures. This frame, taken on my iPhone, has everything for me — a church, St John and St Theodore, a paddle boarder and a ferocious lightning storm over the Adriatic coast. Easily the best holiday photograph I have taken.
Equipment used: Apple iPhone SE.
Marc writes: I have included this simple frame of the Brazilian flag bathed in light as we ended the year with a sports news story which sadly eclipses all others as we learned of the death of Pelé. He is the only player to win three World Cups — between 1958 and 1970 — and holds a Guinness World Record for his amazing haul of 1,279 goals in 1,363 games. It seems a light has gone out in the world of football but his legacy will always be illuminated.
Equipment used: Canon EOS R5 using RF24-70mm (set at 24mm) 1/160th sec f6.3. ISO 2000.
Marc writes: My first frame in this 2022 gallery was taken in early January and my last, taken mid December as one of the most truly remarkable World Cup finals was played at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar. Argentina seemed to be cruising to victory after a Lionel Messi penalty helped them to a 2-0 lead in a game they dominated, before his Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Kylian Mbappé scored two goals in two minutes. Both would score in extra time, leaving more than a month of World Cup football to come down to penalties. We know the rest.
Equipment used: Canon EOS R5 using 15mm fisheye lens. 1/160th f2.8. ISO 2000.
