If you notice the outline of the ball has different size for each photo, this allows to identify a relative distance where the ball is compared to height of players
Glad you noticed that! It's proof of the difference a great designer (in this case, Rumsey Taylor of our News Design team) can make.
As a developer it can be quite humbling to realise how many seemingly tiny yet actually really important touches exist in a project you think you know inside out.
As a developer it can be quite humbling to realise how many seemingly tiny yet actually really important touches exist in a project you think you know inside out.