Scyld Berry

What was cricket like back in the dim past of 2008? There's no better place to find out than the 2009 "Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack".

I always head immediately to the back of the "Wisden" for the "Index of Unusual Occurrences"; here we find that Andrew Symonds scored an eight in a Test match against New Zealand and that a fox stopped play in an English county match. Elsewhere, the Obituaries section recorded, amongst many others, the deaths of Bill Brown, Bob Cunis, Zulfiqur Ahmed and, disconcertingly, Paul Hibbert, who I saw live in a Shield match surely not that long ago.

I could go on, but if you've read this far, you know that "Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack" is always the highlight of the cricket year.… (mer)

Everyone devours the latest “Wisden” in their own way. Some start from the start, reading the Editor’s notes, then the five cricketers of the year and so forth. Some, with ties to a particular English county or country, will turn to the relevant pages covering their team’s results. I am part of another group; those that immediately flip to the back of the book to read “the index of unusual occurrences”.

2007 was just as strange a year in cricket as ever. In Cuttuck, India, play in the Himachal Pradesh v Orrissa was twice stopped by swarms of bees (sadly, “Wisden” does not note whether that is a record). Meanwhile, play was stopped in a match between Lancashire and Kent when the pavilion was evacuated after a smoke alarm was set off by some burnt gravy. And of course the after effects of an Artic Monkeys concert caused play to be delayed in a Lancashire v Hampshire match.

The “Cricket round the world” is another favourite of mine, with entries from outposts like Guam, the Dominican Republic and Greece.

All in all, “Wisden” is one of my favourite wastes of time.… (mer)

Wisden 2011 - the 148th edition - contains coverage of every first-class game in every cricket nation, and reports and scorecards for all Tests and ODIs, including the 2010-2011 Ashes series in Australia where England will seek to retain the Ashes after their victory in the 2009 summer series. Including the eagerly awaited Notes by the Editor, the Cricketers of the Year awards, and some of the finest sports writing of the year - such as the brilliant obituaries - together with trenchant opinion, compelling features and comprehensive records, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack truly is a "must-have" for every cricket fan. A perennial bestseller in the UK. "There can't really be any doubt about the cricket book of the year, any year: it's obviously Wisden". Andrew Baker in the Daily Telegraph… (mer)