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Clearly Wisden has much to cover on the international scene, and it does so with all its usual style. Three major articles on the career of Sir Donald Bradman are included (last year's Wisden was printed too shortly after his death to pay tribute to him properly). Peter Roebuck, meanwhile, looks back on the test career of former England captain Michael Atherton who retired from the international game last summer. As ever, the articles live up to the highest standards. Elsewhere, the usual mine of information seems to get deeper every year, while the five cricketers of the year unusually fail to include an Englishman, but are unsurprisingly dominated by Australians in the form of Gillespie, Gilchrist and Martyn, all performers of the very highest calibre. They are joined in the quintet by Zimbabwean Andy Flower and Indian VVS Laxman, whose epic 281 in Calcutta not only helped end Australia's record-breaking run of test wins, but also enabled India to win the match after following-on, and to turn the tide in that classic series. A fine and correct selection, which encapsulates the judgement of a cricketing institution, the 2002 version will surely proves as popular as its 138 predecessors. And just as the Almanack itself will be treasured, the excellent little paperback which accompanies it will provoke much discussion, purporting as it does to name the 40 leading cricketers in the world today. --Trevor Crowe

Average Customer Rating:

Wisden is here, and so is the summer!

Customer Rating:

In uncertain times, it is reassuring that Wisden's Cricketer's Almanack has once again hit the streets just as the days are becoming longer and the weather is improving. This year the Almanack has a familiar feel; the usual review of domestic and international cricket over the past 12 months or so. Sadly, as a Glamorgan supporter, the review of my county's year does not make for pleasant reading (we were relegated in the County Championship). But it also has a number of interesting articles on Sir Donald Bradman, the great Australian batsman who sadly died just over a year ago. It is staggering to think that, statistically, Bradman is almost twice as good as the current bunch of "top" Test batsmen (Sachin Tendulkar of India averages 57 with the bat, Bradman's average is 99.94.) Other highlights (or should that be lowpoint) include Peter Roebuck's unsympathetic review Mike Atherton's long career as England's dogged opener and captain. The beauty of the Wisden Almanack is that it is never afraid to debate cricket's crises (match fixing, players' conduct)and discuss potential changes in the cricket world, but it also allows us to better understand and honour the cricket greats of the recent and not so recent past. Life without Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack would be much duller for cricket lovers.