DRS is the bane of the photographer’s life. You lose that instant reaction. Normally with DRS you get a wicket and everyone cheers, then there’s a flat moment when the batsman checks the decision, and then after they’ve watched it a few times and it’s had time to sink in, by the time it’s finally given it’s only a half-hearted celebration.
Gareth Copley-Jones revisits England’s winning moment of the 2013 Ashes opener at Trent Bridge.
With this photo, taken after the final wicket fell at Trent Bridge during the 2013 Ashes, I was sat quite close to the big screen that they were all watching and when they finally gave Brad Haddin out for some reason James Anderson came running right towards me! Jimmy is particularly good for pictures.
The other thing with DRS is that they’ve normally got a drink in their hands. If you look back at famous pictures from the Seventies and Eighties, you never saw Ian Botham holding a water bottle! I was pretty lucky here because there were two or three other photographers trying to get the same picture, and in their photos you can see all these water carriers and guys in luminous bibs. But in this one they are obscured so it looks like it was just the team out there. This is probably the only time I’ll get a nice picture from a DRS decision.
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It’s quite an unusual picture. I’m not usually a fan of celebration shots but I quite like this one because almost all the team are in there, and you don’t often get that. Cricket pitches are so big you normally only get two or three. The core of that great team that sadly fell apart after the following Ashes series are all in the picture.
I only did one game of the 2005 Ashes, so I missed out on those epics at Old Trafford and Edgbaston. So this is the only England-Australia game I’ve been at that’s got that close. I’ve done a few where it’s been quite a margin, but this was very tight.
They played Land of Hope and Glory when the players walked back on the field after lunch, trying to get everybody going to spur them on to take that last wicket. You do get a bit caught up in it all. My heart was pounding. I was cheering them on as well.
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It’s the only picture that I’ve got on my wall. After the last Test of the series I printed 15 copies and left them in the dressing room for all the players to sign and take home. You remember the moments more than the pictures.
First published in 2017.
