Terms & Conditions
1. The Competition
The Wisden Cricket Photograph of the Year Competition 2025 (“the Competition”) is run jointly by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc and Cricket Properties Ltd (together referred to as “Wisden” for the purposes of the Competition).
2. Categories
There are three categories (“the Categories” or each one a “Category”) in the Competition as follows:
- Men’s professional cricket
- Women’s professional cricket
- Recreational cricket (men, women and juniors) plus any other cricket-related imagery which does not fit into either of the first two Categories.
The judges will decide on a shortlist for each Category, from which a winner will be chosen for each Category.
The overall winner of the Competition will be selected from the three Category winners.
A list of the ten leading photographs, drawn from the entire Competition (“the Top Ten” which will include the three Category winners) will be chosen from the three Category shortlists.
3. How to enter
Any person may enter the Competition, but entries must be submitted via the online entry form here. Each entry must be submitted individually and must clearly state the Category for which it is entered.
4. Limitation
Each entrant is limited to a maximum of nine images, but no more than three images per Category.
5. Eligible images
All photographs entered must have been taken between 1 January and 31 December 2025 and should demonstrate the skill and artistry of the photographer. Images can be from anywhere in the world, and there is no restriction on subject matter as long as it has a cricket theme. Action shots, landscapes, portraits, images of dramatic or aesthetic appeal are all welcome. All photographs entered must be free of any third-party restrictions regarding their use and publication.
6. Closing date
The closing date for entries is Friday 2nd January 2026 (23.59 GMT).
7. Submission guidelines
All images must have been taken at a high resolution and should be submitted as jpegs (with no interpolation); no other format will be accepted.
The maximum total file size for uploading each entry is 10MB.
Calibration and colour: Images must be colour profiled/corrected before submission. Allowances will NOT be made for poor colour profiling/correction. Please ensure your images are not over saturated and faithfully represent the subject matter.
Adjusting your image: the faithful representation of what was captured at the time of the shot being taken must be maintained. The use of Artificial Intelligence in manipulating photos is not permitted. Digital adjustments are only acceptable if limited to minor cleaning work (removing dust spots), levels, curves, colour, saturation and contrast work. Sharpening and cropping is allowed. Compositing, sandwich shots and double exposures are not permitted. Adding or removing distractions, items, people etc into/from the image is not allowed. Pictures that have been digitally manipulated in breach of these rules are not eligible.
8. Labelling images
Files should be submitted as LAST NAME and _1 or _2 or _3 e.g. SMITH _1. Full caption details must be supplied via the online form and include the location and date on which the picture was taken. Each entry must clearly state the Category for which it is entered. Please ensure that included in the EXIF file information are the technical details including but not limited to the camera used, lens, exposure, and shutter speed.
Wisden, their sub-contractors, subsidiaries and/or agents cannot accept any responsibility whatsoever for any technical failure or malfunction or any other problem which may result in any entry not being properly registered or received.
9. Judges
Wisden has appointed the following independent panel of judges to appraise the entries received as part of the Competition:
- Chris Smith (Chairman of Judging Panel)
- Nigel Davies
- Patrick Eagar
- Clare Adams
- Alison Mitchell
- Jack Meacher
Wisden may, at its sole discretion, add other judges to the panel at any time.
10. Judges’ decisions
The judges’ decisions are final, and no correspondence will be entered into concerning their decisions or the Competition’s organisation. Should the quality of entries fall below the standard required or fail to meet the requirements set out in these Terms and Conditions, Wisden reserves the right not to award prizes.
11. Notification
The winning entrants will be notified at least one week prior to the announcement of the winning images in March 2026. Winners will be asked to keep this information confidential until the results are publicised.
12. Prizes
The prize for the overall Competition winning photograph is £1,000, a copy of Wisden 2026 plus one-year subscriptions to Wisden Cricket Monthly and The Nightwatchman.
The winners of the other two Categories will each receive £400, a copy of Wisden 2026 plus one-year subscriptions to Wisden Cricket Monthly and The Nightwatchman.
13. Reproduction and display
The winning photograph for each of the three Categories will be reproduced as the first three images in the colour section of the 2026 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, and displayed in Wisden Cricket Monthly and The Nightwatchman as well as on Wisden’s website at www.wisden.com. They will also appear elsewhere in the media in connection with the Competition.
The Top Ten shall be publicly displayed for up to twelve months in a gallery in the entrance area below the Galadari stand at The Kia Oval cricket ground.
14. Non-exclusive licence
By submitting your images to the Competition, you confirm that the images you submit are free of any third party restrictions regarding use.
If any of the images you submit are chosen in any of the three Category shortlists, you grant a non-exclusive licence to Wisden to reproduce it/them for publication in Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 2026, on Wisden’s website at www.wisden.com, in Wisden Cricket Monthly and The Nightwatchman and on Wisden’s social media platforms, including but not limited to Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn and Instagram.
If any of the images you submit are chosen in the Top Ten, you grant Surrey County Cricket Club a non-exclusive licence to publicly display it/them for up to twelve months in a gallery in the entrance area below the Galadari stand at The Kia Oval cricket ground.
If any of the images you submit are chosen as the winner of a Category, you agree that other media publications and individual journalists shall be allowed to publish it in any publication or on their social media platform without any payment to you, subject to it being in connection with the Competition and clearly captioned as the winner of a Category or the overall winner (as appropriate) in the Wisden Cricket Photograph of the Year Competition 2026 and credited to the winning photographer.
15. Copyright
Entrants must be the sole author and owner of the copyright for all images entered and will retain the copyright in their images. If Wisden wishes to reproduce an image beyond the uses set out in paragraphs 12 and 13 above, Wisden shall make separate arrangements with the relevant photographer.
Opportunities may arise for winning photographers to benefit from the commercial use of their images in connection with the Competition, but if any such opportunities do arise they should only be exploited only with the photographer’s permission. However, Wisden cannot accept any responsibility for any such exploitation without the photographer’s prior consent.
16. Liability
All entries are entered in the Competition at the photographer’s risk. Wisden regrets that it cannot accept any responsibility for any damage, loss, injury or disappointment suffered by any entrant entering the Competition or as a result of accepting any of the prizes set out in paragraph 11 above. Nothing shall exclude Wisden’s liability for death or personal injury as a result of its negligence.
17. General
Wisden reserves the right to: (i) vary these Terms and Conditions, including but not limited to the opening and closing times for nominations; (ii) disqualify any entrant who breaches these Terms and Conditions or has acted fraudulently in any way; or (iii) cancel the Competition at any stage, if in their opinion it is deemed necessary or if circumstances arise outside their control which cause them to have to cancel the Competition.
18. Laws
The promoter of this Competition is Wisden. These Terms and Conditions are subject to and governed by the laws of England and Wales.