Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Encyclopedia
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...
reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. It is considered the world's most famous sports reference book.
History
Wisden was founded in 1864 by the English cricketer John WisdenJohn Wisden
John Wisden was an English cricketer who played 190 first-class cricket matches for three English county cricket teams, Kent, Middlesex and Sussex...
(1826–84) as a competitor to Fred Lillywhite
Fred Lillywhite
Frederick Lillywhite was a sports outfitter and cricketing entrepreneur, who organised the first overseas cricket tour by an English team and published a number of reference works about cricket.-Cricketing dynasty:...
's The Guide to Cricketers
The Guide to Cricketers
The Guide to Cricketers was a cricket annual edited by Fred Lillywhite between 1849 and his death in 1866. The title varied somewhat but was generally along the lines of The Guide to Cricketers...
. Its annual publication has continued uninterrupted to the present day, making it the longest running sports annual in history. The sixth edition was the first published under its current title; the first five were published as The Cricketer
Apostrophe
The apostrophe is a punctuation mark, and sometimes a diacritic mark, in languages that use the Latin alphabet or certain other alphabets...
before the "s".
Charles Pardon
Charles Pardon
Charles Frederick Pardon was editor of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack between 1887 and 1890. It was during his time as editor that the Wisden Cricketers of the Year awards began. After his death, his brother Sydney Pardon took over. Charles, Sydney and another brother Edgar founded the Pardon's...
, with George Kelly King, founded the Cricket Reporting Agency
Cricket Reporting Agency
The Cricket Reporting Agency was founded by Charles Pardon and George Kelly King in 1880. Throughout its 85 year existence, the CRA provided the Press Association with cricket and football reports and scores for use by newspapers...
(CRA) in 1880. From Pardon's becoming editor of Wisden in 1887, the editor was nearly always a CRA partner and the CRA was responsible for the editorial production of the Almanack, until in 1965 it merged with the Press Association
Press Association
The Press Association is the national news agency of the United Kingdom and Ireland, supplying multimedia news content to almost all national and regional newspapers, television and radio news, as well as many websites with text, pictures, video and data content globally...
(PA).
Wisden was acquired and published by Robert Maxwell
Robert Maxwell
Ian Robert Maxwell MC was a Czechoslovakian-born British media proprietor and former Member of Parliament , who rose from poverty to build an extensive publishing empire...
's publishing conglomerate, Macdonald, in the 1970s. Sir Paul Getty
Paul Getty
Sir John Paul Getty KBE , born Eugene Paul Getty, was a wealthy American-born British philanthropist and book collector. He was the elder son of Jean Paul Getty, Sr...
bought the company, John Wisden & Co, in 1993. And in December 2008, it was sold to A&C Black, which is owned by Bloomsbury. The company presented the Wisden Trophy
Wisden Trophy
The Wisden Trophy is awarded to the winner of the Test cricket series played between England and the West Indies. It was first awarded in 1963 to commemorate the hundredth edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. Series are played in accordance with the International Cricket Council's future tours...
, for Test matches between England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
and West Indies
West Indian cricket team
The West Indian cricket team, also known colloquially as the West Indies or the Windies, is a multi-national cricket team representing a sporting confederation of 15 mainly English-speaking Caribbean countries, British dependencies and non-British dependencies.From the mid 1970s to the early 1990s,...
in 1963, to celebrate its 100th edition.
Editions
Wisden is a small-paged but a very thick book (over 1,500 pages in modern editions) with a distinctive bright yellow cover that it has carried since the 75th edition in 1938. Prior to that, covers varied between yellow, buff and salmon pink. That edition was also the first to display the famous woodcutWoodcut
Woodcut—occasionally known as xylography—is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges...
of two cricketers, by Eric Ravilious
Eric Ravilious
Eric William Ravilious was an English painter, designer, book illustrator and wood engraver.-Career:Ravilious studied at Eastbourne School of Art, and at the Royal College of Art, where he studied under Paul Nash and became close friends with Edward Bawden.He began his working life as a muralist,...
, on its cover. It is published each April, just before the start of the English domestic cricket season. Since 2003 the woodcut has been replaced as the main feature of the front cover by a photograph of a current cricketer, but still appears albeit in a much reduced size.
It is produced in both hardcover and softcover. Since 2006, a larger format edition has been published on an experimental basis. This is said to be in response to requests from readers who find the print size of the standard edition hard to read. It is around twice the traditional size and was published in a limited edition of 5,000. It is not a large print book as such, as the print will still be of a size found in many standard books.
The format has changed markedly over the years. The first edition had only 112 pages yet found space to cover the dates of battles in the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, the winners of The Oaks and the rules of quoiting.
Comment
Around a hundred pages of articles on cricketing topics, including the introductory "Notes by the Editor", which address often controversial cricket issues and always provoke discussion in the cricketing world.Awards
The traditional Wisden Cricketers of the YearWisden Cricketers of the Year
The Wisden Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season"...
awards, which date back to 1889, and the Wisden Leading Cricketer of the World award, started in 2004.
Records
Traditionally the main source for key statistics about the game, although it has never attempted to be comprehensive. Nowadays the records section is intended to be complementary to the much more detailed data available online at Wisdens associated website CricinfoCricinfo
ESPNcricinfo is believed to be the largest cricket-related website on the World Wide Web. Content includes news,articles, live scorecards,live text commentary and a comprehensive and searchable database called 'StatsGuru', of historical matches and players from the 18th century to the present...
.
English cricket
By far the largest section of the book. Hugely detailed coverage, including scorecards of every First classFirst-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...
game played in the previous English summer, and summaries of minor counties
Minor counties of English cricket
The Minor Counties are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that are not afforded first-class status. The game is administered by the Minor Counties Cricket Association which comes under the England and Wales Cricket Board...
, second eleven, university, school and premier club cricket
Club cricket
Club cricket is a mainly amateur, but still formal, form of the sport of cricket, usually involving teams playing in competitions at weekends or in the evening. There is a great deal of variation in game format although the Laws of Cricket are always observed...
.
Overseas cricket
Full coverage of all international cricket and brief coverage of domestic first class cricket outside EnglandLaw and Administration
This short section, 80 pages in the 2010 edition, has information about and addresses of official cricket bodies as well as the full laws of cricketLaws of cricket
The laws of cricket are a set of rules established by the Marylebone Cricket Club which describe the laws of cricket worldwide, to ensure uniformity and fairness. There are currently 42 laws, which outline all aspects of how the game is played from how a team wins a game, how a batsman is...
, together with appendices. There are also details of meetings held by official bodies, including their major decisions, as well as articles about the Duckworth-Lewis Method and Powerplays
Powerplay (cricket)
A Powerplay is a rule introduced in 1991 concerning fielding restrictions in One Day International cricket.The Powerplay was intended to add to the excitement in ODI cricket. In a Powerplay fielding restrictions are applied on the fielding team, only 2 or 3 players are allowed outside the 30 yard...
.
The Wisden Review
This section includes the Chronicle (noteworthy events from the previous year), reviews of other cricket books published in the year, noteworthy retirements and the highly regarded obituaries section among others.The Almanack
This section contains fixtures for the forthcoming international and English domestic season, the international scheduleInternational Cricket
International Cricket is a cricket video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System that was only released in Australia in 1992. Developed by Melbourne-based Beam Software, it was the only cricket game released for the NES. There were no attempts to release a cricket video game to the North...
for the upcoming seven years and the Index of Unusual Occurrences featuring quirky cricketing stories. A selection from recent years includes: Rabbit burns down pavilion; Hot-air balloons stop play; Cricketers arrested for dancing naked; Fine leg arrives by parachute; Fried calamari stopped play; Umpire locked in ground overnight..
Editors
Remarkably, Wisden has had only 16 editors in over 140 years of publication.- W. H. Crockford/W. H. Knight (1864–69)
- W. H. Knight (1870–79)
- G.H. West (1880–86)
- Charles F. Pardon (1887–90)
- Sydney PardonSydney PardonSydney Herbert Pardon was a sports journalist who was the editor of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack for 35 editions, from 1891 until his death. He took over following the death of his brother, Charles. Of all the editors of the publication, he was arguably the greatest...
(1891–1925) - C. Stewart Caine (1926–33)
- Sydney J. Southerton (1934–35)
- Wilfred H. Brookes (1936–39)
- Haddon Whitaker (1940–43)
- Hubert PrestonHubert PrestonHubert Preston was a journalist and writer who was editor of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack for eight years from the 1944 edition to the 1951 edition....
(1944–51) - Norman PrestonNorman PrestonNorman Preston, MBE was an English cricket journalist.He began his career with the old Pardon's Cricket Reporting Agency in 1933 and served on three overseas tours as Reuters' correspondent. He succeeded his father, Hubert Preston, as editor of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack and was in charge for...
(1952–80) - John WoodcockJohn Woodcock (cricket writer)John Charles Woodcock OBE is an English cricket writer and journalist.He was born at Longparish, Hampshire, where he still lives, and was dubbed "the Sage of Longparish" by Alan Gibson. He is a co-author of the Longparish Village Handbook. Woodcock attended Trinity College, Oxford, and won hockey...
(1981–86) - Graeme Wright (1987–92, 2001–02)
- Matthew EngelMatthew EngelMatthew Lewis Engel is a British writer and editor who began his career in 1972. He worked on The Guardian newspaper for nearly 25 years, reporting on a wide range of political and sporting events including a stint as Washington correspondent beginning on 9/11. He now writes a column in the...
(1993–2000, 2004–07) - Tim de LisleTim de LisleTimothy John March Phillipps de Lisle is a British writer and editor who is a feature writer for The Guardian, focusing on cricket and rock music. He is the editor of the magazine Intelligent Life, is the rock critic at The Mail on Sunday and also edited the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in...
(2003) - Scyld BerryScyld BerryAnthony Scyld Ivens Berry is the editor of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack and Sunday Telegraph Cricket correspondent.- References :* Debrett's People of Today, 2009- External links :...
(2008–)
It has been announced that Lawrence Booth
Lawrence Booth (cricket writer)
Lawrence Booth is a cricket writer for the Daily Mail, author, and has been appointed editor of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack for 2012. He has previously written for The Guardian, The Observer and The Sunday Times, and is a regular contributor to The Wisden Cricketer magazine...
will take over as editor for the 2012 edition. His deputy, promoted to the role of co-editor, will be Hugh Chevallier
Contributors
As would be expected from a publication of such size and longevity, Wisden has had a large number of contributors. The majority involve match reports for the various fixtures recorded each year, but also biographies, reviews and opinion. Practically all the great cricket writers have written for Wisden, along with many great cricketers. Neville CardusNeville Cardus
Sir John Frederick Neville Cardus CBE was an English writer and critic, best known for his writing on music and cricket. For many years, he wrote for The Manchester Guardian. He was untrained in music, and his style of criticism was subjective, romantic and personal, in contrast with his critical...
contributed many notable essays and for many years John Arlott
John Arlott
Leslie Thomas John Arlott OBE was an English journalist, author and cricket commentator for the BBC's Test Match Special. He was also a poet, wine connoisseur and former police officer in Hampshire...
was responsible for the book reviews.
Five Cricketers of the Year
Since 1902 (with the occasional exception) Wisden has honoured five cricketers for their outstanding achievements over the previous year. Further details with a full list of recipients of the award, can be found at Wisden Cricketers of the YearWisden Cricketers of the Year
The Wisden Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season"...
.
Indices and anthologies
At least two indices to Wisden have been published:- Index to Wisden, 1864–1943 by Rex Pogson (1944)
- An Index to Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1985)
A number of anthologies of articles from Wisden have been published. These include:
- Wisden Anthology by Benny Green (1979)
- Wisden Book of Obituaries edited by Benny Green (1986)
- The Wisden Papers of Neville CardusNeville CardusSir John Frederick Neville Cardus CBE was an English writer and critic, best known for his writing on music and cricket. For many years, he wrote for The Manchester Guardian. He was untrained in music, and his style of criticism was subjective, romantic and personal, in contrast with his critical...
(Wisden Papers) edited by Benny Green (1989) - The Wisden Papers edited by Benny Green (1990)
- The Concise Wisden: An Illustrated Anthology of 125 Years edited by Benny Green (1990)
- Wisden Anthology: 1864–1900 edited by Benny Green (1992)
- Wisden Anthology: 1901–1939 edited by Benny Green (1992)
- Wisden Anthology: 1940–1963 edited by Benny Green (1992)
- Wisden Anthology: 1964–1982 edited by Benny Green (1992)
- Endless Summer: 140 Years of Australian Cricket in Wisden edited by Gideon HaighGideon HaighGideon Clifford Jeffrey Davidson Haigh is an English-born Australian journalist, who writes about sport and business. He was born in London of a Yorkshire father and an Australian mother, and was raised in Geelong, Victoria.- Career :Haigh has been writing about sport and business for over...
(2003) - The Wisden Collection: Volume 1 edited by Graeme Wright (2004)
- The Wisden Collection: Volume 2 edited by Graeme Wright (2005)
- Wisden at Lords: An Illustrated Anthology edited by Graeme Wright (2005)
- Wisden Anthology: 1978–2006: Cricket's Age of Revolution edited by Stephen MossStephen MossStephen Moss is a British natural historian, birder, author and television producer. He is married, with five children , and lives in Somerset, having moved there from West London....
(2006)
In Popular Culture
In A Clockwork OrangeA Clockwork Orange (film)
A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 film adaptation of Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel of the same name. It was written, directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick...
directed by Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
, the almanac is seen on the prison governor's desk.
Collectors
Collecting Wisdens is a popular activity among cricket followers, and early editions command high prices. The first edition, only 112 pages long, sold for one shillingShilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
, but copies such as a rebind without covers usually sells for around £12000; original (not rebound) paperbacks rarely turn up so a recent price is only the talk of dealers. The editions published during the two World Wars are also very rare, as a result of wartime paper restrictions a 1916 Hardback is worth circa £6000 and a 1941 around £1500. In recent times, facsimiles of many of the early editions have been published; an example of a collection can be seen here.
External links
- Wisden online archive from CricinfoCricinfoESPNcricinfo is believed to be the largest cricket-related website on the World Wide Web. Content includes news,articles, live scorecards,live text commentary and a comprehensive and searchable database called 'StatsGuru', of historical matches and players from the 18th century to the present...
- http://www.wisden.com/
- 'Unofficial Wisden Fan Club helping Collectors since 2005'