Playfair Cricket Annual - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Playfair Cricket Annual is a compact annual

Annual publication

An annual publication, more often called simply an annual, is a book or a magazine, comic book or comic strip published yearly. For example, a weekly or monthly publication may produce an Annual featuring similar materials to the regular publication....

about cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

that is published in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

each April, just before the English cricket season is due to begin. Its main purposes are to review the previous English season and to provide detailed career records and potted biographies of current players. It is produced in "pocket-sized" format, being approximately 5 in. by 4 in. (i.e., about 10 cm by 14 cm), so that it is ideal for taking to cricket matches. The front cover of each issue has a photograph of a prominent current cricketer. There is a belief that this "honour" has a "hex" or "curse" associated with it.

Publications

The original publisher was Playfair Books Ltd of London, which had its office at Curzon Street when the first edition was published in April 1948; the company relocated soon afterwards to Haymarket. The name Playfair was chosen because it reads as "play fair", as confirmed by C B Fry

C B Fry

Charles Burgess Fry, known as C. B. Fry was an English polymath; an outstanding sportsman, politician, diplomat, academic, teacher, writer, editor and publisher, who is best remembered for his career as a cricketer...

who began his foreword to the first edition in 1948: "This Playfair Annual (and what a proper title for a book about the Noble Game) will commend itself to innumerable readers". The first editor was Peter West

Peter West

Peter Anthony West was a BBC presenter and sports commentator best known for his work on the corporation's cricket, tennis and rugby coverage as well as occasionally commentating on field hockey. Throughout his television career he remained freelance.-Early life:He was an only child...

who was succeeded in 1954 by Gordon Ross

Gordon Ross (writer)

Gordon John Ross was a successful sports journalist and a vice-president of Lancashire CCC.He was closely associated with numerous cricket publications. He succeeded Peter West as editor of the Playfair Cricket Annual in 1954, remaining in this role until his death...

. Roy Webber

Roy Webber

Roy Webber was a British cricket scorer and statistician. After World War II, in which he served with the Royal Air Force, he decided to turn what had been his hobby into his profession. He had the necessary proficiency with figures, having previously been an accountant. He was the scorer for BBC...

was the statistician at Playfair for many years and was described by West as "that ace of statisticians".

The Playfair Cricket Annual is one of a series of similar sized sporting annuals published under the Playfair name. Others have included Playfair Football Annual
Playfair Football Annual
Playfair Football Annual is a compact football annual. It is a reference book primarily covering football in England, Scotland and Europe....

, Playfair Rugby Football Annual and Playfair Racing Annual. In addition the Playfair name was used for record books produced by Roy Webber and for the magazine Playfair Cricket Monthly

Playfair Cricket Monthly

Playfair Cricket Monthly was a monthly British cricket magazine that ran from May, 1960 to April, 1973, when it was absorbed by The Cricketer. Its comprehensive statistical content was taken on by The Cricketer Quarterly. It was edited by Gordon Ross and - until his death in 1962 - Roy Webber...

. A number of tour brochures were also produced by Playfair Books.

From 1948 to 1962 the annual was a larger size 4¾ in. by 7¼ in. (12 cm by 18 cm) and had a different style, being printed on glossy paper and including numerous photographs. In 1962 the Playfair titles were acquired by Dickens Press which had just published The Cricket Annual
The Cricket Annual
The Cricket Annual was a compact cricket annual published in 1961 and 1962 and edited by Roy Webber. In 1962 the Playfair titles including Playfair Cricket Annual were acquired by Dickens Press which had just published The Cricket Annual...

, edited by Roy Webber. In 1963, Dickens published a new style Playfair Cricket Annual, using the same name but basing the size, format and price on The Cricket Annual
The Cricket Annual
The Cricket Annual was a compact cricket annual published in 1961 and 1962 and edited by Roy Webber. In 1962 the Playfair titles including Playfair Cricket Annual were acquired by Dickens Press which had just published The Cricket Annual...

. Therefore, the 2010 edition is the 63rd in all but the annual has only been published in compact size since the 1963 edition (the 16th). In addition, Playfair Cricket World Cup Guide, in 1996, and Playfair Cricket World Cup 1999 were published in the same format as the regular annual to cover the International limited overs competitions in India/Pakistan/Sri Lanka and England/Scotland/Ireland/Netherlands in those years respectively. Both of those were also edited by Bill Frindall.

The current publisher is Headline Publishing Group with Ian Marshall, who succeeded Bill Frindall

Bill Frindall

William Howard Frindall, MBE was an English cricket scorer and statistician. He was familiar to cricket followers from his appearances on the BBC Radio 4 programme Test Match Special, nicknamed the Bearded Wonder by Brian Johnston for his ability to research the most obscure cricketing facts in...

on an acting basis in 2009 and permanently for the 2010 edition, as editor. There are several specialist contributors, most notably Philip Bailey who compiles the career records.

The following tables provide a summary of each annual by reference to editor, size and price:

Large format: 1948–1962

Year	Editor	Price	Pages
1948	Peter West	3s 6d	144
1949	Peter West	3s 6d	144
1950	Peter West	3s 6d	176
1951	Peter West	3s 6d	176
1952	Peter West	5s	184
1953	Peter West	5s	192
1954	Gordon Ross	5s	176
1955	Gordon Ross	5s	176
1956	Gordon Ross	5s	176
1957	Gordon Ross	5s	176
1958	Gordon Ross	5s	176
1959	Gordon Ross	6s	176
1960	Gordon Ross	6s	176
1961	Gordon Ross	6s	176
1962	Gordon Ross	6s	176

In each of the first 15 editions there was a 16 page photographic section in addition to the numbered pages. The 1948 annual was actually called Playfair Books Cricket Annual but subsequent years were simply called Playfair Cricket Annual. There were two issues of the 1948 annual with a difference in the back cover. One had a Playfair logo, the other a Schweppes advertisement.

Compact format: 1963–present

Year	Editor	Cricketer(s) on Front Cover	Cricketer(s) on Back Cover	Price	Pages
1963	Gordon Ross	Frank Worrell Frank Worrell Sir Frank Mortimer Maglinne Worrell is sometimes referred to by his nickname of Tae and was a West Indies cricketer and Jamaican senator...	n/a	2s 6d	192
1964	Gordon Ross	Bob Simpson Bob Simpson (cricketer) Robert Baddeley Simpson AO is a former cricketer who played for New South Wales, Western Australia and Australia, captaining the national team from 1963–64 until 1967–68, and again in 1977–78. He later had a highly successful term as the coach of the Australian team...	n/a	2s 6d	224
1965	Gordon Ross	Ken Barrington Ken Barrington Kenneth Frank Barrington , better known as Ken Barrington, played for the English cricket team and Surrey County Cricket Club in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a right-handed batsman and occasional leg-spin bowler, well known for his jovial good humour and long, defensive innings "batting with bulldog...	n/a	2s 6d	224
1966	Gordon Ross	Wes Hall Wes Hall Wesley Winfield Hall is a Barbadian former cricketer and politician. A tall, strong and powerfully built man, Hall was a genuine fast bowler and despite his very long run up, he was renowned for his ability to bowl long spells. Hall played 48 Test matches for the West Indies from 1958 to 1969...	n/a	3s	224
1967	Gordon Ross	Brian Close Brian Close Dennis Brian Close , usually known as Brian Close, is a former cricketer who is the youngest man ever to play Test cricket for England. He was picked for the Test team to play against New Zealand, in July 1949, when he was 18 years old. Close went on to play 22 Test matches for England,...	n/a	3s	224
1968	Gordon Ross	Basil d'Oliveira Basil D'Oliveira Basil Lewis D'Oliveira CBE , known affectionately around the world as "Dolly", was a South African-born English cricketer. D'Oliveira was classified as 'coloured' under the apartheid regime, and hence barred from first-class cricket, resulting in his emigration to England...	n/a	3s 6d	224
1969	Gordon Ross	Alan Knott Alan Knott Alan Philip Eric Knott is a former Kent County Cricket Club and English cricketer, as a wicket-keeper-batsman....	n/a	3s 6d	224
1970	Gordon Ross	John Edrich John Edrich John Edrich, MBE is a former English cricketer, who played for Surrey and England. He earned a reputation as a dogged and fearless batsman, and his figures show that he was amongst the best players of his generation...	n/a	4s	224
1971	Gordon Ross	John Snow John Snow (cricketer) John Augustine Snow played cricket for Sussex and England in the 1960s and 1970s. Despite being the son of a country vicar and publishing two volumes of poetry Snow was England's most formidable fast bowler between Fred Trueman and Bob Willis and played Test Matches with both of them at either end...	n/a	£0.20	224
1972	Gordon Ross	Geoff Boycott	n/a	£0.22	224
1973	Gordon Ross	Tony Greig Tony Greig Anthony "Tony" William Greig is a former English Test cricketer and currently a commentator.Born in Queenstown, South Africa, Greig qualified to play for England by virtue of his Scottish father. He was a tall batting all-rounder who bowled both medium pace and off spin. He became captain of the...	n/a	£0.25	224
1974	Gordon Ross	Bishen Bedi	n/a	£0.35	224
1975	Gordon Ross	Dennis Amiss Dennis Amiss Dennis Leslie Amiss MBE was an English cricketer and cricket administrator.Amiss suffered a serious back injury whilst playing soccer in his teenage years, which entailed him starting each day of his sporting life undergoing stretching routines to loosen up.He played cricket for both Warwickshire...	n/a	£0.50	212
1976	Gordon Ross	Clive Lloyd Clive Lloyd Clive Hubert Lloyd CBE AO is a former West Indies cricketer. He captained the West Indies between 1974 and 1985 and oversaw their rise to become the dominant Test-playing nation, a position that was only relinquished in the latter half of the 1990s...	n/a	£0.50	224
1977	Gordon Ross	Dennis Lillee Dennis Lillee Dennis Keith Lillee, AM, MBE is a former Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation"...	n/a	£0.60	224
1978	Gordon Ross	Mike Brearley Mike Brearley John Michael Brearley OBE is a former cricketer who captained the England cricket team in 31 of his 39 Test matches, winning 17 and losing only 4. He was the President of the Marylebone Cricket Club in 2007–08.-Early life:...	n/a	£0.65	224
1979	Gordon Ross	Ian Botham Ian Botham Sir Ian Terence Botham OBE is a former England Test cricketer and Test team captain, and current cricket commentator. He was a genuine all-rounder with 14 centuries and 383 wickets in Test cricket, and remains well-known by his nickname "Beefy"...	n/a	£0.75	224
1980	Gordon Ross	Graham Gooch Graham Gooch Graham Alan Gooch OBE DL is a former cricketer who captained Essex and England. He was one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, and through a career spanning from 1973 until 2000, he became the most prolific run scorer of all time with 67,057 runs...	n/a	£0.90	240
1981	Gordon Ross	Geoff Boycott	n/a	£1.00	240
1982	Gordon Ross	Allan Lamb Allan Lamb Allan Joseph Lamb is a former England cricketer and captain who played for the first class teams of Western Province and Northamptonshire, the latter as an Overseas player...	n/a	£1.10	256
1983	Gordon Ross	David Gower David Gower David Ivon Gower OBE is a former English cricketer who became a commentator for Sky Sports. Although he eventually rose to the captaincy of the England cricket team during the 1980s, he is best known for being one of the most stylish left-handed batsmen of the modern era. Gower played 117 Test...	n/a	£1.25	256
1984	Gordon Ross	Viv Richards Viv Richards Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards, KNH, OBE is a former West Indian cricketer. Better known by his second name, Vivian or, more popularly, simply as Viv or King Viv Richards was voted one of the five Cricketers of the Century in 2000, by a 100-member panel of experts, along with Sir Donald...	n/a	£1.50	256
1985	Gordon Ross	Paul Downton Paul Downton Paul Downton is a former English cricketer, who played in thirty Tests and twenty eight ODIs from 1977 to 1989. He was a wicket-keeper and a useful batsman in the lower middle-order...	n/a	£1.75	256
1986	Bill Frindall	Allan Border Allan Border Allan Robert Border AO is a former Australian cricketer. A batsman, Border was for many years the captain of the Australian team. His playing nickname was "A.B.". He played 156 Test matches in his career, a record until it was passed by fellow Australian Steve Waugh...	n/a	£1.75	256
1987	Bill Frindall	John Emburey John Emburey John Ernest Emburey is a former English cricketer, who played for Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Western Province, Berkshire and England....	n/a	£1.75	256
1988	Bill Frindall	Graeme Hick Graeme Hick Graeme Ashley Hick MBE is a Zimbabwean-born cricketer who played 65 Test matches and 120 One Day Internationals for England. He played county cricket for Worcestershire for his entire English domestic career, a period of well over twenty years, and in 2008 he surpassed Graham Gooch's record for...	n/a	£1.75	256
1989	Bill Frindall	Jack Russell Jack Russell (cricketer and artist) Robert Charles "Jack" Russell MBE is a retired English international cricketer, now known for his abilities as an artist, as a cricket wicketkeeping coach and football goalkeeping coach.-Biography:...	n/a	£1.75	256
1990	Bill Frindall	Angus Fraser Angus Fraser Angus Robert Charles Fraser is the current Managing Director of Cricket of Middlesex County Cricket Club, and a former English cricketer and journalist....	n/a	£1.99	256
1991	Bill Frindall	Robin Smith Robin Smith (cricketer) Robin Arnold Smith is a former cricketer for Hampshire and England.Smith was nicknamed Judge or Judgie for his resemblance to a judge when he grew his hair long...	n/a	£2.50	256
1992	Bill Frindall	Phillip DeFreitas Phillip DeFreitas Phillip Anthony Jason "Daffy" DeFreitas is a retired English cricketer. He played county cricket for Leicestershire, Lancashire and Derbyshire, as well as appearing in forty four Test matches and 103 ODIs...	n/a	£2.99	256
1993	Bill Frindall	Alec Stewart Alec Stewart Alec James Stewart OBE is a retired English cricketer, a right-handed batsman-wicketkeeper and former captain of the England cricket team...	n/a	£3.99	256
1994	Bill Frindall	Mike Atherton Mike Atherton Michael Andrew Atherton OBE is a broadcaster, journalist and retired England international cricketer. A right-handed opening batsman for Lancashire and England,and occasional leg-break bowler, he achieved the captaincy of England at the age of 25 and led the side in a record 54 Test matches...	n/a	£3.99	256
1995	Bill Frindall	Darren Gough Darren Gough Darren Gough is a retired English cricketer and former captain of Yorkshire County Cricket Club. The spearhead of England's bowling attack through much of the 1990s, he is England's highest wicket-taker in one-day internationals with 234, and took 229 wickets in his 58 Test matches, making him...	n/a	£4.50	288
1996	Bill Frindall	Wasim Akram Wasim Akram Wasim Akram is a former Pakistani left arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman in cricketer and model. who represented the Pakistan national cricket team in Test cricket and One Day International matches....	n/a	£4.99	288
1997	Bill Frindall	Shane Warne Shane Warne Shane Keith Warne is a former Australian international cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. In 2000, he was selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century, the only specialist bowler selected in the quintet... & Graham Thorpe Graham Thorpe Graham Paul Thorpe MBE is a former English cricketer who played for Surrey and England. A left-handed middle-order batsman and slip fielder, he appeared in exactly 100 Test matches.-Early life:...	n/a	£4.99	288
1998	Bill Frindall	Nasser Hussain Nasser Hussain Nasser Hussain OBE is a former Essex and England cricketer.Beginning his career in a strong Essex side in the late 1980s, he was an outstanding fielder and a stylish but inconsistent batsman. In first-class cricket from 1987 to 2004 Hussain scored 20,698 runs in 334 matches at an average of 42.06,...	Hansie Cronje Hansie Cronje Wessel Johannes "Hansie" Cronje was a South African cricketer and captain of the South African national cricket team in the 1990s...	£4.99	288
1999	Bill Frindall	Mark Ramprakash Mark Ramprakash Mark Ravin Ramprakash is an English cricketer, playing for Surrey and England. A right-handed batsman, he initially made his name playing for Middlesex, and was selected for England aged 21...	Allan Donald Allan Donald Allan Anthony Donald is a former South African cricketer and one of their most successful pace bowlers.In his prime, he was one of the best fast bowlers ever seen in Test cricket, reaching the top of the ICC Test rankings in 1998 and peaked with a top ICC ranking of 895 points the next year, the... & Mike Atherton	£4.99	288
2000	Bill Frindall	Andrew Caddick Andrew Caddick Andrew Richard Caddick is a retired cricketer who played for England as a fast-medium bowler. At 6 ft 5in, Caddick was a successful bowler for England for a decade, taking 13 five-wicket hauls in Test matches...	Jack Russell & Mark Alleyne Mark Alleyne Mark Wayne Alleyne MBE is an English all-round cricketer who made ten One Day International appearances for England between 1998/99 and 2000/01...	£5.99	288
2001	Bill Frindall	Steve Waugh Steve Waugh Stephen Rodger "Steve" Waugh, AO is a former Australian cricketer and fraternal twin of cricketer Mark Waugh. A right-handed batsman, he was also a successful medium-pace bowler...	Mike Atherton & Alec Stewart	£5.99	304
2002	Bill Frindall	Marcus Trescothick Marcus Trescothick Marcus Edward Trescothick MBE is an English cricketer. He plays first-class cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club, and represented England in 76 Test matches and 123 One Day Internationals. A left-handed opening batsman, he made his first-class debut for Somerset in 1993 and quickly established...	Michael Vaughan Michael Vaughan Michael Paul Vaughan OBE is a retired cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England. A classically elegant right-handed batsman and occasional off-spinner, Vaughan was ranked one of the best batsmen in the world following the 2002/3 Ashes, in which he scored 633 runs, including three centuries...	£5.99	304
2003	Bill Frindall	Andrew Flintoff Andrew Flintoff Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff MBE is a former English cricketer who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, England and the Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings. A tall fast bowler, batsman and slip fielder, Flintoff according to the ICC rankings was consistently rated amongst the top...	Mark Butcher Mark Butcher Mark Alan Butcher is a former English Test cricketer, who played county cricket for Surrey from 1992 until his retirement from the sport in 2009. He was a left-handed batsman, and occasional right-arm medium-pace bowler....	£5.99	304
2004	Bill Frindall	Michael Vaughan	Brian Lara Brian Lara Brian Charles Lara, TC, OCC, AM is a former West Indian international cricket player. Lara is generally regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time...	£6.99	304
2005	Bill Frindall	Steve Harmison Steve Harmison Stephen James Harmison MBE is an English cricketer. Primarily a fast bowler, he represented England in 63 Tests, 58 ODI's, and 2 T20's. He also plays county cricket for Durham....	The Ashes Urn The Ashes The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...	£6.99	304
2006	Bill Frindall	Andrew Flintoff	England team celebrating Ashes victory	£6.99	320
2007	Bill Frindall	Ian Bell	Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is an Indian cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the leading run-scorer and century maker in Test and one-day international cricket. He is the only male player to score a double century in the history of ODI cricket...	£6.99	320
2008	Bill Frindall	Monty Panesar Monty Panesar Mudhsuden Singh Panesar, known as Monty Panesar , is an English cricketer who currently plays for Sussex. A left-arm spinner, Panesar played Test and one-day cricket for England until 2009. In English county cricket he played for Northamptonshire until 2009...	Stephen Fleming Stephen Fleming Stephen Paul Fleming ONZM is a New Zealand cricketer, and the former captain of the New Zealand national cricket team, known as the Black Caps, in Test and one-day cricket...	£6.99	320
2009	Bill Frindall*	Ricky Ponting Ricky Ponting Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...	Kevin Pietersen Kevin Pietersen Kevin Peter Pietersen, MBE is a South African-born English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who plays for England and Surrey...	£6.99	336
2010	Ian Marshall	Andrew Strauss Andrew Strauss Andrew John Strauss, OBE is an English cricketer who plays county cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club and is the captain of England's Test cricket team. A fluent left-handed opening batsman, Strauss favours scoring off the back foot, mostly playing cut and pull shots...	James Anderson James Anderson (cricketer) James Michael "Jimmy" Anderson is an English cricketer. He plays first-class cricket for Lancashire County Cricket Club and since bursting onto the scene in 2002/03, before his first full season of county cricket, Anderson has represented England in over 50 Test matches and over 100 One Day...	£6.99	336
2011	Ian Marshall	Graeme Swann Graeme Swann Graeme Peter Swann is an English international cricketer. He is primarily a right-arm offspinner, and also bats right-handed. After initially playing for his home county Northamptonshire, for whom he made his debut in 1997, he moved to Nottinghamshire in 2005. He often fields at slip...	England Ashes winning team with urn	£7.99	336

Bill Frindall died before the 2009 annual was completed, but received sole credit as editor on the front cover. The acknowledgements page credits Ian Marshall as "acting editor". Frindall's traditional preface was written by Jonathan Agnew
Jonathan Agnew
Jonathan Philip Agnew is an English cricket broadcaster and former professional cricketer. He was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire and educated at Uppingham School. He is nicknamed "Aggers", and, less commonly, "Spiro"....

.

From the 1998 edition onwards a thumbnail picture also appeared on the spine of the annual. This has been a smaller version of the front cover photograph except in 1998 and 2008, when it was the back cover picture, and in 2006 and 2010 the Ashes urn was depicted.

Compact Format: World Cup Guides

Year	Editor	Cricketers on Front Cover	Cricketer on Back Cover and spine	Price	Pages
1996	Bill Frindall	Allan Donald & Brian Lara	n/a	£4.99	256
1999	Bill Frindall	Arjuna Ranatunga Arjuna Ranatunga Arjuna Ranatunga is a retired Sri Lankan cricketer and politician. He was the captain of Sri Lankan cricket team, and led them to an unbeaten title-winning campaign at the 1996 Cricket World Cup... & Glenn McGrath Glenn McGrath Glenn Donald McGrath AM , nicknamed "Pigeon", is a former Australian cricket player. He is one of the most highly regarded fast-medium pace bowlers in cricketing history, and a leading contributor to Australia's domination of world cricket from the mid-1990s to the early 21st century...	Sanath Jayasuriya Sanath Jayasuriya Sanath Teran Jayasuriya is a former Sri Lankan cricketer. An all-rounder, he played for the Sri Lankan cricket team from 1989 to 2011...	£4.99	288

Apart from those on the covers, there are no photographs in any of the annuals from 1963.

Eleven cricketers of the year

From 1950 to 1962 the annual produced a list of its Eleven Cricketers of the Year for the previous season. Tony Lock

Tony Lock

Graham Anthony Richard Lock was an English cricketer, who played primarily as a left-arm spinner. He played in forty nine Tests for England taking 174 wickets at 25.58 each.-Life and career:...

was selected 7 times, Peter May 6 times.

1950 : Trevor Bailey
Trevor Bailey
Trevor Edward Bailey CBE was an England Test cricketer, cricket writer and broadcaster.An all-rounder, Bailey was known for his skilful but unspectacular batting...

, Freddie Brown, Tom Burtt
Tom Burtt
Thomas Browning Burtt was a New Zealand cricketer who played in ten Tests from 1947 to 1953. His 128 wickets taken on tour remains a record for New Zealand. In first class cricket, he played 84 games for Canterburybetween 1943 and 1955, taking 40 wickets at 22.19...

, Martin Donnelly
Martin Donnelly (cricketer)
Martin Paterson Donnelly was a New Zealand Test cricketer and England Rugby Union player.Born in Ngaruawahia, New Zealand, Donnelly's twin brother Maurice died in the Spanish flu epidemic in 1918. His sporting talent emerged quickly and Donnelly became known for his batting and fielding skills, as...

, Tom Goddard
Tom Goddard
Tom Goddard was the fifth highest wicket taker in first-class cricket....

, Walter Hadlee
Walter Hadlee
Walter Arnold Hadlee, CBE was a New Zealand cricketer and Test match captain. He played domestic first-class cricket for Canterbury and Otago. Three of his five sons, Sir Richard, Dayle and Barry played cricket for New Zealand...

, Len Hutton
Len Hutton
Sir Leonard "Len" Hutton was an English Test cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England in the years around the Second World War as an opening batsman. He was described by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket...

, Roly Jenkins
Roly Jenkins
Roly Jenkins was an English cricketer, almost exclusively for Worcestershire as a leg spinner in the period immediately after World War II...

, John Langridge
John Langridge
John George Langridge was a cricketer who played for Sussex. His obituary in Wisden called him "one of the best English cricketers of the 20th century never to play a Test match"....

, Reg Simpson
Reg Simpson
Reginald Thomas Simpson is an English former cricketer, who played in twentry seven Tests from 1948 to 1955.-Life and career:...

, Bert Sutcliffe
Bert Sutcliffe
Bert Sutcliffe MBE was a New Zealand Test cricketer. Sutcliffe was a successful left-hand batsman. His batting achievements on tour in England in 1949, which included four fifties and a century in the Tests, earned him the accolade of being one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year...

1951 : Godfrey Evans
Godfrey Evans
Thomas Godfrey Evans CBE was an English cricketer who played for Kent and England.Described by Wisden as 'arguably the best wicket-keeper the game has ever seen', Evans collected 219 dismissals in 91 Test match appearances between 1946 and 1959 and a total of 1066 in all first-class matches...

, Laurie Fishlock
Laurie Fishlock
Laurence Barnard "Laurie" Fishlock was an English cricketer, who played in four Tests from 1936 to 1947. A specialist batsman, he achieved little in those four matches, but might have had a much more substantial Test career, had he not lost six of what should have been his best years to World War...

, Ken Grieves
Ken Grieves
Kenneth James Grieves was an Australian first class cricketer who played for Lancashire. A middle order batsman, he made 452 first-class appearances for Lancashire and made a county record 555 catches...

, Gilbert Parkhouse
Gilbert Parkhouse
William Gilbert Anthony Parkhouse was a Welsh cricketer who played in seven Tests for England in 1950, 1950-51 and 1959....

, Sonny Ramadhin
Sonny Ramadhin
Sonny Ramadhin was a West Indian cricketer, and a dominant bowler of the 1950s. He was the first West Indian cricketers of Indian origin, and was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1951.- Biography and career :...

, David Sheppard
David Sheppard
David Stuart Sheppard, Baron Sheppard of Liverpool was the high-profile Bishop of Liverpool in the Church of England who played cricket for Sussex and England in his youth...

, Roy Tattersall
Roy Tattersall
Roy Tattersall is an English former Lancashire cricketer, who played sixteen Tests for England as a specialist off spin bowler....

, Alf Valentine
Alf Valentine
Alfred Louis Valentine, April 28, 1930–11 May 2004 , was a West Indian cricketer in the 1950s and 1960s. He is most famous for his performance in the West Indies' 1950 tour of England, which was immortalised in the Victory Calypso.-The 1950 tour:...

, Everton Weekes
Everton Weekes
Sir Everton DeCourcy Weekes, KCMG, GCM, OBE is a leading former West Indian cricketer. Along with Frank Worrell and Clyde Walcott, he formed what was known as "The Three Ws" of West Indian cricket.-Youth and early career:...

, Frank Worrell
Frank Worrell
Sir Frank Mortimer Maglinne Worrell is sometimes referred to by his nickname of Tae and was a West Indies cricketer and Jamaican senator...

, Doug Wright
Doug Wright (cricketer)
Douglas Vivian Parson Wright, better known as Doug Wright was an English cricketer. A leg-spinner for Kent and England from 1932 to 1957 he took a record seven hat-tricks in first class cricket. He played for Kent for 25 years and was their first professional captain from late 1953 to 1956...

1952 : Bob Appleyard
Bob Appleyard
Bob Appleyard is a former Yorkshire and England cricketer.He was one of the best English bowlers of the 1950s, a decade which saw England develop its strongest bowling attack of the twentieth century...

, Alec Bedser
Alec Bedser
Sir Alec Victor Bedser, CBE was a professional English cricketer. He was the chairman of selectors for the English national cricket team, and the president of Surrey County Cricket Club...

, Geoffrey Chubb
Geoffrey Chubb
Geoffrey Walter Ashton Chubb was a South African cricketer who played five Tests for South Africa on tour of England in 1951 aged 40. He headed the bowling averages, taking 21 wickets at an average of 27.47, but couldn't prevent England taking the series 3–1...

, Denis Compton
Denis Compton
Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer...

, Tom Dollery
Tom Dollery
Tom Dollery was an English cricketer, who played for England and Warwickshire.-Life and career:Born Horace Edgar Dollery in Reading, Berkshire, and playing Minor counties cricket for Berkshire at the age of 15, Dollery joined Warwickshire in 1934, and was a mainstay of the team until retirement in...

, Tom Graveney
Tom Graveney
Thomas William Graveney in Riding Mill, Northumberland, is a former English cricketer and was the President of the Marylebone Cricket Club for 2004/5. He went to Bristol Grammar School...

, Jim Laker
Jim Laker
James "Jim" Charles Laker was a cricketer who played for England in the 1950s, known for "Laker's match" in 1956 at Old Trafford, when he took nineteen wickets in England's victory against Australia...

, Peter May, Jack Robertson
Jack Robertson
Jack Robertson was an English cricketer, who played county cricket for Middlesex, and in eleven Tests for England....

, Eric Rowan
Eric Rowan
Eric Alfred Burchell Rowan, born on 20 July 1909 and died at Johannesburg on 30 April 1993, was a cricketer who played for Transvaal, Eastern Province and South Africa....

, Willie Watson
Willie Watson (England cricketer)
William "Willie" Watson, was an English cricketer, who played for Yorkshire, Leicestershire and England. He was a double international, as Watson was also a footballer who played for England's national team.-Cricket career:...

1953 : Alec Bedser, Brian Close
Brian Close
Dennis Brian Close , usually known as Brian Close, is a former cricketer who is the youngest man ever to play Test cricket for England. He was picked for the Test team to play against New Zealand, in July 1949, when he was 18 years old. Close went on to play 22 Test matches for England,...

, Godfrey Evans, Tom Graveney, Len Hutton, Jim Laker, Tony Lock, Peter May, David Sheppard, Fred Trueman
Fred Trueman
Frederick Sewards Trueman OBE was an English cricketer, generally acknowledged as one of the greatest fast bowlers in history. A bowler of genuinely fast pace who was widely known as Fiery Fred, Trueman played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1949 until he retired in 1968...

, Johnny Wardle
Johnny Wardle
Johnny Wardle was an English spin bowler of post-war cricket. His Test bowling average of 20.39, is the lowest in Test cricket by any recognised spin bowler, since World War I....

1954 : Trevor Bailey, Alec Bedser, Bruce Dooland
Bruce Dooland
Bruce Dooland was an Australian cricketer who played in 3 Tests from 1947 to 1948....

, Bill Edrich
Bill Edrich
William John "Bill" Edrich DFC was a distinguished cricketer who played for Middlesex, MCC, Norfolk and England.Edrich's three brothers, Brian, Eric and Geoff, and also his cousin, John, all played first-class cricket...

, Lindsay Hassett
Lindsay Hassett
Arthur Lindsay Hassett MBE was a cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia. The diminutive Hassett was an elegant middle-order batsman, described by Wisden as, "... a master of nearly every stroke ... his superb timing, nimble footwork and strong wrists enabled him to make batting look a...

, Neil Harvey
Neil Harvey
Robert Neil Harvey MBE is a former Australian cricketer who represented the Australian cricket team between 1948 and 1963, playing in 79 Test matches. He was the vice-captain of the team from 1957 until his retirement...

, Len Hutton, Ray Lindwall
Ray Lindwall
Raymond Russell Lindwall MBE was a cricketer who represented Australia in 61 Tests from 1946 to 1960. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time. He also played top-flight rugby league football with St...

, Tony Lock, Peter May, David Sheppard

1955 : Bob Appleyard, Denis Compton, Bruce Dooland, Les Jackson
Les Jackson
Les Jackson was an English cricketer. A fast or fast-medium bowler renowned for his accurate bowling and particular hostility on uncovered wickets, he played county cricket for Derbyshire from 1947 to 1963, and was regularly at, or near the top of, the English bowling averages...

, Don Kenyon
Don Kenyon
Donald Kenyon was an English cricketer, who played in eight Tests for England from 1951 to 1955. He captained Worcestershire between 1959 and 1967....

, Jim Laker, Peter Loader
Peter Loader
Peter James Loader was an English cricketer and umpire, who played thirteen Test matches for England. He played for Surrey and Beddington Cricket Club. A whippet-thin fast bowler with a wide range of pace and a nasty bouncer, he took the first post-war Test hat-trick as part of his 6 for 36...

, Tony Lock, Fazal Mahmood
Fazal Mahmood
Fazal Mahmood was a Pakistani cricketer, regarded as the finest pace bowler of his country's early years. He played in 34 Test matches and took 139 wickets at a bowling average of 24.70...

, Brian Statham
Brian Statham
John Brian "George" Statham, CBE was one of the leading English fast bowlers in 20th-century English cricket. Initially a bowler of a brisk fast-medium pace, Statham was able to remodel his action to generate enough speed to become genuinely fast...

, Alan Watkins
Alan Watkins
Alan Rhun Watkins was for over 50 years a British political columnist in various London-based magazines and newspapers...

1956 : Colin Cowdrey
Colin Cowdrey
Michael Colin Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge, CBE , better known as Colin Cowdrey, was the Captain of Oxford University, Kent County Cricket Club and the England cricket team in a career that lasted from 1950 to 1976...

, Bruce Dooland, Peter Heine
Peter Heine
Peter Samuel Heine was a South African cricketer who played in fourteen Tests from 1955 to 1962...

, Doug Insole
Doug Insole
Doug Insole CBE is a former English cricketer, who played for Cambridge University, Essex and in nine Test matches for England, five of them on the 1956-57 tour of South Africa, where he was vice-captain to Peter May...

, Tony Lock, Jackie McGlew
Jackie McGlew
Derrick John "Jackie" McGlew, born on 11 March 1929, Pietermaritzburg and died at Pretoria on 8 June 1998 was a cricketer who played for Natal and South Africa...

, Roy Marshall
Roy Marshall
Roy Edwin Marshall was a West Indian cricketer who played in four Tests from 1951 to 1952. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1959.-Early career:...

, Brian Statham, Hugh Tayfield
Hugh Tayfield
Hugh Joseph Tayfield was a cricketer. He played 37 Test matches for South Africa from 1949 to 1960 and was one of the best off spinners the game has seen. He was the fastest South African to take 100 wickets in Tests until Dale Steyn claimed the record in March 2008...

, John Waite

1957 : Denis Compton, Jim Laker, Gil Langley
Gil Langley
Gilbert Roche Andrews "Gil" Langley was an Australian Test cricketer, champion Australian rules footballer and member of parliament, serving as Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly....

, Tony Lock, Peter May, Keith Miller
Keith Miller
Keith Ross Miller MBE was an Australian Test cricketer and a Royal Australian Air Force pilot during World War II. Miller is widely regarded as Australia's greatest ever all-rounder. Because of his ability, irreverent manner and good looks he was a crowd favourite...

, Peter Richardson
Peter Richardson (cricketer)
Peter Edward Richardson is an English former cricketer, who played for Worcestershire, Kent and, in thirty four Tests, for England....

, David Sheppard, Stuart Surridge
Stuart Surridge
Walter Stuart Surridge was a cricketer who played for Surrey. He was born at Herne Hill in south London, educated at Emanuel School, and died at Glossop in Derbyshire....

, George Tribe
George Tribe
George Edward Tribe was an Australian cricketer who played in 3 Tests from 1946 to 1947, as well as an Australian rules footballer with the Footscray Football Club in the VFL....

, Cyril Washbrook
Cyril Washbrook
Cyril Washbrook was an English cricketer, who played for Lancashire and England. He had a long career, split by World War II, and ending when he was aged 44. Washbrook, who is most famous for opening the batting for England with Len Hutton, which he did fifty one times, played a total of 592...

1958 : Colin Cowdrey, Tom Graveney, Peter Loader, Tony Lock, Peter May, John Murray
John Murray (cricketer)
John Thomas Murray MBE is a former English cricketer. He played in twenty one Tests for England between 1961 and 1967.-Life and career:...

, Jim Parks
Jim Parks junior
Jim Parks is an English former cricketer. He played in forty six Tests for England, between 1954 and 1968...

, Derek Shackleton
Derek Shackleton
Derek Shackleton was a Hampshire and England bowler. He took over 100 wickets in 20 consecutive seasons of first-class cricket, but only played in seven Tests for England. As of 2007, he has the seventh-highest tally of first-class wickets, and the most first-class wickets of any player who...

, MJK Smith, Collie Smith
Collie Smith
O'Neil Gordon 'Collie' Smith was a West Indian cricketer....

, Fred Trueman

1959 : Dennis Brookes
Dennis Brookes
Dennis Brookes was an English cricketer who played for Northamptonshire between 1934 and 1959 . He also played in one Test match for England against West Indies in 1948. Brookes was President of Northamptonshire from 1982 to 1984...

, Godfrey Evans, Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie
Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie
Alexander Colin David Ingleby-Mackenzie OBE was an English cricketer: a left-handed batsman who played for Hampshire between 1951 and 1966, captaining the county from 1958 to 1965 as Hampshire's last amateur captain and leading his side to their first County Championship in the 1961 season...

, Les Jackson, Tony Lock, Roy Marshall, Peter May, Arthur Milton
Arthur Milton
Clement Arthur Milton was an English cricketer and footballer. He played County cricket for Gloucestershire from 1948 to 1974, playing six Test matches for England in 1958 and 1959. He also played domestic football for Arsenal between 1951 and 1955, and then for a brief period for Bristol City...

, Derek Shackleton, Raman Subba Row
Raman Subba Row
Raman Subba Row is an English former cricketer who played for England, Cambridge University, Surrey and Northamptonshire.-Life and career:...

, Willie Watson

1960 : Abbas Ali Baig
Abbas Ali Baig
Abbas Ali Baig is a former Indian cricketer who played in 10 Tests from 1959 to 1966.He was named one of Indian Cricket 's five Cricketers of the Year for 1959/60....

, Trevor Bailey, Ken Barrington
Ken Barrington
Kenneth Frank Barrington , better known as Ken Barrington, played for the English cricket team and Surrey County Cricket Club in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a right-handed batsman and occasional leg-spin bowler, well known for his jovial good humour and long, defensive innings "batting with bulldog...

, Ronnie Burnet
Ronnie Burnet
Ronnie Burnet was an English cricketer and the last amateur captain of Yorkshire County Cricket Club...

, Colin Cowdrey, Ray Illingworth
Ray Illingworth
Raymond Illingworth, CBE is a former English cricketer, cricket commentator and cricket administrator. He was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20,000 runs in First class cricket, and the last one to do so...

, Jim Parks, Geoff Pullar
Geoff Pullar
Geoffrey Pullar was an English cricketer, who played for Lancashire, Gloucestershire and in twenty eight Tests for England....

, MJK Smith, Jim Stewart
Jim Stewart (cricketer)
William James Perver Stewart is a former Welsh first-class cricketer. He played for Warwickshire.-External links:*...

, Bryan Stott
Bryan Stott
William Bryan Stott and known as Bryan, is an English former first-class cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club throughout his career, which spanned from 1952 to 1963...

1961 : Trevor Bailey, Ted Dexter
Ted Dexter
Edward Ralph Dexter CBE is a former English cricketer...

, Norman Horner
Norman Horner
Norman Frederick Horner was an English first-class cricketer, who played two games for Yorkshire County Cricket Club in 1950, before moving to Warwickshire County Cricket Club in 1951...

, Henry Horton, Tony Lewis
Tony Lewis
Anthony Robert Lewis CBE is a former Welsh cricketer, who went on to become the face of BBC Television cricket coverage in the 1990s, and become president of the MCC. Lewis attended Christ's College, Cambridge and played for Cambridge University. He also played county cricket for Glamorgan, and...

, Alan Moss
Alan Moss
Alan Edward Moss is a former English cricketer, who played in nine Tests for England from 1954 to 1960....

, Michael Norman
Michael Norman
Michael Norman is an American author known for his Haunted superstitious series with Beth Scott. Norman holds a Master's degree from DeKalb's Northern Illinois University in 1969. He worked at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls journalism department from 1973 until his retirement in May 2003...

, Eric Russell, Brian Statham, Fred Trueman, Peter Wight

1962 : Bill Alley
Bill Alley
William Edward Alley was a cricketer who played 400 first-class matches for New South Wales, Somerset and a Commonwealth XI....

, Richie Benaud
Richie Benaud
Richard "Richie" Benaud OBE is a former Australian cricketer who, since his retirement from international cricket in 1964, has become a highly regarded commentator on the game....

, Jack Flavell
Jack Flavell
Jack Flavell was an English cricketer who played in four Tests for England from 1961 to 1964. His county cricket career was spent with Worcestershire, with whom Flavell won two County Championship titles...

, Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie, Bill Lawry
Bill Lawry
William Morris "Bill" Lawry, AM is a former cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia. He captained Australia in 25 Tests, winning nine, losing eight and drawing eight, and led Australia in the inaugural One Day International match, played in 1971...

, Ken Mackay
Ken Mackay
Kenneth Donald Mackay was an Australian cricketer who played in 37 Tests from 1956 to 1963....

, Roy Marshall, John Murray, Peter Parfitt
Peter Parfitt
Peter Parfitt is an English former cricketer. He attended Fakenham Grammar School, and King Edward VII Grammar School, in Kings Lynn, Norfolk....

, Derek Shackleton, Raman Subba Row

County register, averages, and records

Since the first compact edition of 1963 the core of the publication has been a section giving a county by county list of current cricketers with potted biographies, their county averages in the previous season together with some introductory notes on the county and the major county records. The county clubs are listed in alphabetical order from Derbyshire to Yorkshire. Until 1962, the biographies occupied less space and were not sorted by county club. Introductory information about each county club has expanded, largely because of the introduction of limited overs cricket competitions. A much longer list of officials is now given; originally only the secretary and captain were given. Until 1972 most editions gave potted scores for each club's home matches but lack of space caused this to be removed.

Current contents

Currently, the annual's contents typically include:

Preface, Foreword and Acknowledgements
Test Cricket
- Details of England's records against the touring teams
- Register of the touring teams
- Statistical highlights of the previous year
- Scorecards of the previous year
- Current career averages
- Test match records
County Cricket
- County register, averages and records
- Umpires register
- University registers
- Touring team registers
- Statistical highlights of the previous season
- Competition results and tables
- Cricketer of the year awards
- First-class averages for the season
- First-class career averages
- List 'A' career averages
- First-class records
Limited over and T20 Internationals
- Summary of England matches
- Career averages
- Records
Other Cricket
- Oxbridge matches
- Women's cricket
Fixtures

Status of matches

As one of the leading statistical cricket publications, Playfair has to take a view on the status of Test

Test cricket

Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...

, One Day International, first-class

First-class cricket

First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...

and domestic one-day

One-day cricket

Limited overs cricket, also known as one-day cricket and in a slightly different context as List A cricket, is a version of the sport of cricket in which a match is generally completed in one day, whereas Test and first-class matches can take up to five days to complete...

(i.e. List A) matches. It generally complies with the statistics published by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...

and will sometimes ignore official rulings: e.g., the ICC

International Cricket Council

The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...

ruling that South African rebel tours

South African rebel tours

The South African rebel tours were a series of seven cricket tours staged between 1982 and 1990. They were known as the rebel tours because South Africa was throughout this period banned from international cricket due to the apartheid regime...

between 1981–82 and 1989–90 were not first-class matches. The 2010 edition overturned Frindall's long-held view that the match between Australia and an ICC World XI in 2005/06 should not be regarded as a Test Match and now includes it in its Test record section.

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