The Wisden Cricket Photograph of the Year Competition 2025 invites photographers from around the world to capture the game in all its forms during the 2025 cricket calendar. Run jointly by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc and Cricket Properties Ltd, it remains one of the most respected global showcases for cricket photography, open to both amateurs and professionals.
Images can come from international stadiums, women’s professional leagues or local club matches on village greens. What matters is that they convey the drama, atmosphere or quiet beauty of cricket. With free entry, a clear category structure and strong publication opportunities, this contest continues to be one of the best photography competitions to enter for anyone who loves the sports and wants to see their work in print.
Prizes
Wisden Cricket Photograph of the Year 2025 focuses its prizes on both financial recognition and long-term visibility in some of cricket’s most influential publications.
- Overall Competition Winner
- £1,000 cash prize.
- A copy of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 2026.
- One-year subscriptions to Wisden Cricket Monthly and The Nightwatchman.
- Winners of the other two Categories
- £400 cash prize each.
- A copy of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 2026.
- One-year subscriptions to Wisden Cricket Monthly and The Nightwatchman.
Beyond the cash and subscriptions, the three Category-winning photographs are reproduced at the front of the colour section in the 2026 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack and featured in Wisden Cricket Monthly, The Nightwatchman and on Wisden’s own channels. A Top Ten selection is also exhibited for up to twelve months at The Kia Oval cricket ground, giving the work sustained real-world exposure.
Categories or Themes
From 2025 onwards, the Wisden Cricket Photograph of the Year is structured around three Categories that mirror the main strands of the modern game:
- Men’s professional cricket – top-level men’s domestic or international cricket, in any country.
- Women’s professional cricket – women’s professional leagues and international fixtures worldwide.
- Recreational cricket – men’s, women’s or junior cricket at all non-professional levels, plus any other cricket-related imagery that does not fit into the first two Categories.
Photographers can concentrate on fast action, portraits of players and supporters, training sessions, landscapes of grounds or quieter moments around the game. What matters is that the cricket theme is unmistakable and that the image demonstrates real photographic skill.
Dates and Entry Fees
Wisden Cricket Photograph of the Year 2025 follows a straightforward timetable and remains completely free to enter.
- Eligibility period for images:
Photos must be taken between 1 January and 31 December 2025. - Closing date:
Entries must be received by 4 January 2026. - Winners announced:
Winning images are announced in March 2026, with shortlisted photographers notified in advance. - Entry fee:
There is no entry fee for this competition.
Each entrant may submit up to nine images in total, with no more than three images in any single Category. This makes it possible to build a small body of work around professional cricket, recreational cricket or a mix of both, without paying a submission fee. If you still have doubts, on our website you can find a wide variety of free photography competitions of all kinds.
How to Enter
All entries for Wisden Cricket Photograph of the Year 2025 are submitted digitally via the official online form.
- Choose your images
Select up to nine original photographs taken during 2025 that capture cricket in any context, from international arenas to local parks. - Assign a Category
Decide whether each image belongs in Men’s professional cricket, Women’s professional cricket or Recreational cricket. Each image must be entered individually and clearly labelled with the chosen Category. - Prepare your files
– Files must be submitted as JPEGs at high resolution.
– Maximum upload size per image is 10 MB.
– Images should be properly colour-corrected and not oversaturated.
– The use of AI to manipulate photos is not allowed; only standard adjustments such as dust removal, basic levels/curves, colour and contrast, sharpening and moderate cropping are permitted. - Add captions and technical details
For each entry, photographers supply a caption, the date and place where the image was taken, plus key EXIF information (camera, lens, exposure settings and so on). - Submit via the official online form
Complete the entry form on the Wisden competition site, agree to the Terms and Conditions and finalise your submission before the deadline.
Why Enter Wisden Cricket Photograph of the Year 2025?
For photographers who already shoot cricket regularly (or who enjoy working around sport, crowds and atmosphere) this competition offers a very focused opportunity:
- It is international and open to anyone, whether professional or amateur.
- Entry is free, with a generous maximum of nine images per person.
- The prizes combine cash, respected print publication and subscriptions that keep you connected with the game.
- The Top Ten exhibition at The Kia Oval places your work in front of a live audience visiting one of the most historic cricket grounds in the world.
- Having an image reproduced in Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack is a genuine career milestone for many cricket photographers.
Within the wider landscape of sports and documentary photography, Wisden Cricket Photograph of the Year 2025 stands out as a contest that understands both the game and the craft of photography, and treats winners’ images with long-term respect.
Rules and Copyright
This section about the rules and image rights of the Wisden Cricket Photograph of the Year 2025 has been generated automatically. If you are interested in participating in this contest we suggest you review the complete rules provided by the contest.
- Eligibility and originality
– Entrants must be the sole authors and copyright holders of all images submitted.
– Photographs must be free of third-party restrictions on use or publication.
– All photographs entered must have been taken between 1 January and 31 December 2025. - Image integrity
– The image should represent what was genuinely in front of the camera at the time of capture.
– Heavy compositing, adding or removing significant elements and AI-based manipulation are not allowed and will make entries ineligible.
– Only limited digital adjustments are acceptable: minor cleaning work (removing dust spots), levels, curves, colour, saturation and contrast work, sharpening and cropping. - Judging
– An independent panel of judges, led by experienced cricket and sports photographers and commentators, reviews the entries and selects shortlists, Category winners and the overall Competition winner.
– The judges’ decisions are final, and Wisden reserves the right not to award prizes if the entries fall below the expected standard. - Licensing and use of winning images
– Photographers retain copyright over their work.
– If an image is shortlisted or wins a Category, the photographer grants Wisden a non-exclusive licence to reproduce it in the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 2026, on wisden.com, in Wisden Cricket Monthly, The Nightwatchman and across Wisden’s social media channels, always in connection with the Competition.
– Images selected in the Top Ten are also licensed, on a non-exclusive basis, for public display at The Kia Oval for up to twelve months. - Liability
– Entries are submitted at the photographer’s own risk, and Wisden cannot be held responsible for any loss, damage or disappointment related to entering or to the prizes.
For more information and to enter the competition, visit: the oficial website.
