My name is Simon Trafford and welcome to my Cricket Photography portfolio website.
Cricket has been in my blood for as long as I can remember, it is part of my DNA. I have been a spectator, scorer, player, captain, coach and now freelance photographer. I was born in Nottingham and was welcomed into the world by my dad proclaiming that I wouldn’t be able to play for Yorkshire!!
My first experience as a spectator of "live" cricket was an international match in 1974 with my dad and grandpa at Trent Bridge when England took on Pakistan in a Prudential Trophy ODI match. The match featured centuries from David Lloyd aka “Bumble” (his only ODI century) and Majid Khan (his only ODI century also) and despite England being easily beaten, from that point onwards I was hooked.
My first test match was the third Ashes match at Trent Bridge in 1977 during which I kept a scorebook for the whole match. The match featured the return of Geoff Boycott, the debut of Ian Botham and my boyhood hero Derek Randall playing on his home ground. The match was played against the backdrop of the Packer affair, and the Queens Jubilee with the Queen being presented to the player during the match – who could ask for more!
I became a Junior member of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club and spent many of my formative years at Trent Bridge with my brothers watching, and playing cricket behind the stands. We collected many autographs and would occasionally have the “honour” of carrying an away player’s bag into the changing room for them.
My own playing career started and finished at Plumtree Cricket Club where I played for over 25 years and where I am now a Vice President. I started in the juniors and very quickly became a first team regular. I represented the County (Nottinghamshire) at junior levels and in school boy under 19’s, but despite ambitions for further progress towards professional cricket it was not to be. Over the years the Plumtree first XI team grew stronger and enjoyed much success fuelled by a thriving and productive junior section. From humble beginnings the club continues to grow and flourish and now proudly boasts a Nottinghamshire Cricket Board Premiership team and excellent facilities.
Photography filled the void left when I finished playing cricket. With my wife Trudy, we run Trafford Photography which is an event photography company with on-site printing as standard. The main focus of this company is the world of equestrianism, along with other genre such as studio portraits and school proms where on site printing is required. I am now expanding my photography range to encompass Cricket and link photography with my lifelong cricket passion. Whether it is a success or not remains to be seen, but I will certainly enjoy trying to make it work.
The wikipedia definition of cricket is; “Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players each on a field at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch.”