Junior cricket fills New Zealand summers. Primary-aged children start with Kiwi Cricket and modified formats where everyone bats and bowls, older juniors play Saturday morning grades from October to March, and clubs close the season with prizegiving in the clubrooms before winter sport takes over. A slideshow of the summer turns prizegiving from a list of names into a celebration.
Cricket is easy to photograph but hard to photograph evenly. Batters and bowlers get the attention, while a fielder on the boundary can stand there for an hour without being noticed. Add the long Christmas break, when families scatter to the beach and the bach, and it is easy to reach March with half the team barely photographed.
A summer of junior cricket
The first Saturday in October
Send families the team's link in the group chat. Early-season photos in fresh whites or coloured kit, with brand-new pads that are still too big, set the scene nicely.
Mid-December
Before the break, ask everyone to add their photos. Pre-Christmas games are the ones most likely to be forgotten by February.
Late January
Have a look at the coverage list once grades resume. Kids who field on the boundary and bat at seven or eight are usually short; a reminder in the chat that names them does the trick.
End-of-season tournament
Tournaments and finals bring team photos, certificates and celebrations. Remind families the day before.
Ten days before prizegiving
Stop collecting a few days before the evening and watch the first cut.
Steps for a cricket team
First names only
Junior cricket shirts seldom have numbers, so the roster is just first names. Families tag their own child and any teammates in each photo.
Mark consent from the club's forms
Flag any player whose family has not given photo consent before the link goes out; those photos never reach other families or the slideshow.
Photograph one over in the field
Ask each family to photograph the whole fielding side for a single over each game. Over a summer, that one habit includes every child several times.
Catch every child's turn with the ball
In modified formats every child bowls. A parent near square leg can catch each run-up, which also gives you the clearest faces of the day.
Polish the chapters and export
Saturdays and tournament days become chapters, the sharpest shots are kept, and each player reaches the minimum. Add a caption like "First fifty of the season" to a chapter and export.
Cricket photo ideas
Stand side-on and level with the crease for batting photos; from behind the stumps you only see a helmet and pads. Kids in the field love to dive, so keep a finger ready whenever the ball heads their way. The drinks break brings everyone into one patch of shade, which makes a relaxed team photo. Finish the slideshow with the team clapping each other off after the last game, the classic closing image of any cricket season.
How long should a cricket prizegiving slideshow be?
A junior cricket team of 10 to 12 players fits comfortably in three minutes with three or four appearances each. Clubs with several teams at one prizegiving should keep each slideshow a little under three minutes so the sausage sizzle is still warm.
Song length plannerFit your photos to the music, song by song.The Classic style's warm tones suit a summer sport. Year 8 players moving on to secondary school cricket can be marked as leavers for a short tribute.
Prizegiving checklist
At the clubrooms
- Ask who has the key to the clubrooms' TV cabinet; it is never who you think.
- Load every team's slideshow onto one laptop in age order.
- Play each slideshow before that team's certificates and trophies.
- Keep the outside doors closed while it plays so the sound carries.
- Send the private link to families the next morning.
Privacy and safeguarding
Faces are never scanned or recognised. Children are matched to photos by the tags their families add and the numbers on their jersey. Only first names are stored, location data is removed on the phone before upload, the season’s link is private and never appears in search engines, and anything inappropriate for a youth sports setting is hidden automatically. Any parent can report a photo, and the organiser has the final say on every photo in the video.
Cricket questions
Can a Kiwi Cricket group use it?
Yes. Any group of children in a season can have a slideshow; paste their first names and share the link.
Few parents watched our hot afternoon games. What then?
Ask the coach or the scorer to take a few photos on those days. Coaches can upload as supporters and tag players.
Can the slideshow show runs and wickets?
The slideshow is about the players rather than the scorebook, but a short chapter caption is a nice place for a milestone.
Our team had players join after Christmas. Will they be short?
Possibly, so add them to the roster as soon as they join and keep an eye on the coverage list. They get the same minimum as everyone if enough photos come in.