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Ian Bell, one of Wisden’s five: right or wrong?
By Will 3 months ago, 6 Comments »
So then. The 2008 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack launches tomorrow and judging by the torrent of abuse my phone received today, the general opinion of Ian Bell being awarded as one of the Wisden five is one of shock. Or faint disgust. You decide.
When I heard about it, I admit it was quite a surprise - but bear in mind the qualification period is up to last December, by which point Bell had utterly cemented his place and the doubters were left flushed. For the time being, at least. Lawrence Booth:
Peter Moores and Andy Flower began to encourage him to express himself more at the crease and suggested he practise with a narrow bat against the spinners - a tactic he had employed in his youth. The idea was to force him to hit through the line, and the result was borne out at The Oval and in the one-dayers, where his total of 422 runs at 70 was the highest on either side. Not only that, but a strike-rate of almost 92, a full 23 higher than his previous career figure, pointed to a new sense of urgency. Now the two bats - one the width of a ball, the other three-quarters that - go everywhere with him. Less for once has meant more.
A mate of mine called the decision a travesty and said it even denigrates the value of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year. I’m less angry about it, mainly because I can see reasons for his inclusion (excellence in one-dayers and generally more consistent) and otherwise. But the level of disgust calls me to open this up to the rest of you.
Right decision or not?
6 Comments »Complete set of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanacks for auction
By Will 5 months ago, No Comments; be the first!
A “fine collection” of all 144 copies of The Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack will go under the Bonhams hammer on Wednesday in Chester. Don’t even think about it unless you have £100,000 burning a whole in your pocket (which is roughly what Shivnarine Chanderpaul was bought for recently).
It is an extraordinary sum of money, even for what is admittedly quite a rare collection. Worth keeping an eye on Bonhams’ listings for cricket memorabilia - for interest more than anything.
No Comments »Sale to commence at 11:00
The deadline for submission of items to this sale has now passed. We are currently consigning items for our next sale on June 4th. Please contact 01244 313 936 if you have any items you wish to be valued.A fine collection of all 144 volumes issued from 1864 to 2007 along with 2 index issues, one covering the years 1864 to 1943 and the other 1864 to 1984, the entire set handsomely bound in uniform brown half morocco by Bayntun-Riviere of Bath, photographic plates in volumes 1889 and 1891-1915, some volumes with original wrappers bound in, 8vo, J. Wisden.
The vendor collected this set over the last 20 years and bought sufficient morocco goatskins and end papers to ensure that the set could be uniformly bound through to 2030, the residue of these are included in the lot for sale.
Kevin Pietersen graces front cover of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack
By Will 5 months ago, 8 Comments »
Scyld Berry, editing this year’s Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack in place of Matthew Engel, has chosen Kevin Pietersen for the front cover:
It’s released on April 7 and you can pre-order it now
Cricketana in 2006
By Will last year, mid-April, 1 Comment »
Nice piece in today’s Wisden Almanack special on cricketana last year.
But auctions and controversy do seem to go together. In November, Christie’s auctioned what was definitely a cricket ball. It was said to be the one that Garry Sobers clobbered for the last of his six sixes in an over at Swansea in 1968. But how do we know it was that ball?
Christie’s had done a great deal of research. A 17-year-old spectator, Richard Lewis, searched for the ball as he was leaving the ground and found it in the gutter. The ball was handed back to Sobers and was believed to have been destined for the Trent Bridge Museum. But it never got there. For a time it was on display in one of the bars there, then supporters’ club secretary Josie Miller popped it in her make-up drawer for safe keeping. The ball arrived at Christie’s with a certificate of provenance signed by Sobers. But some players from the match say Stuart Surridge balls were in use. This was a Dukes. On the other hand, at least two balls were used in that over, so the replacement could have been a different make. Whatever, it made £22,000.
With relief, one can report there were no arguments at all about the burr walnut Victorian kidney-shaped pedestal desk sold by Bonham’s in March for £54,000 to an anonymous bidder. Barry Johnston, son of Brian, has fond memories of his father sitting at the desk in his study.
“Every morning, he would religiously sit at this desk and sort through his post,” he recalled. “He would receive countless letters from cricket fans and people asking him to open fêtes and so on, and he would scribble replies on the back of Donald McGill’s saucy seaside postcards - whether it was to a cricket fan or a bishop.”
There are always a host of really interesting, different, offbeat articles in the Almanack and we’ll be putting one up each week in its usual Sunday slot. Of course, you really ought to just go and buy it as well.
1 Comment »Wisden advertising in the 1800s
By Will last year, at the end of January, No Comments; be the first!
Although its primary role is to document cricket, the early editions of The Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack have become a fascinating time machine into society in the 19th century. There are a whole bunch of advertisements in the late 1800s, offering various questionable concoctions to improve your health; Naturalists guns; Carry-All Fishing Baskets; Marquees (as used by Oxford and Cambridge!); false knee caps “made of finest plated steel wire, meshed so as to contract and expand with the movement of the knee.” You name it, Wisden advertised it.
Click here to see one I scanned for this brilliant article in the 1992 Almanack. Benjamin Edgington’s marquees, on Duke Street (roughly Borough High Street as it is today). You need to register (no bad thing anyway) to read it, but it’s worth doing. There are some absolute gems in there.
And by the by, Thomas Williams was indicted for stealing 40 yards of Edgington’s canvas on February 2, 1833, and transported to Australia for seven years. So now you know.
No Comments »Tim de Lisle’s Ashes blog
By Will 2 years ago, mid-September, 5 Comments »
Tim de Lisle, a former editor of The Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack and columnist for Cricinfo and The Times, is blogging for us at Cricinfo. I’ve been franticly trying to get it ready for Monday and it’s just about ready to rock.
Tim will be writing about the build-up to this winter’s Ashes - and of the series itself, I hope. Should be great so check it out.
5 Comments »The helmet: sensible adjunct or well-marketed gimmick?
By Will 2 years ago, at the end of August, 1 Comment »
Sensible adjunct or well-marketed gimmick?
That was the headline in the 1981 edition of The Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack. It’s archive day at Cricinfo, when we pick an essay from a previous edition. This week, it’s Trevor Bailey on the helmet - a piece of equipment now part of every cricket bag, even in schools I bet.
1 Comment »Chronicle of 2005
By Will 2 years ago, at the end of July, No Comments; be the first!
If you hadn’t noticed, and damn you to the pavilion and back if you’re guilty, each Sunday we put up an essay or article from the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack. This week’s is a Chronicle of 2005, as reported by the media. There are some good’uns worth a read.
No Comments »Osmanless in England
By Will 2 years ago, mid-July, No Comments; be the first!
We were hoping and expecting to have Osman Samiuddin, Cricinfo’s Pakistan editor, over here for their tour of England. But the visa people, in their utter ignorance and stupidity, have for whatever reason denied him entry (or it’s been delayed, or whatever). Ridiculous. Sid’s covering for him instead. In the meantime, have a read of an article Osman wrote for this year’s Almanack about the significance of religion in Pakistani cricket, which I mentioned earlier.
No Comments »London derby last year
By Will 2 years ago, mid-June, 1 Comment »
Almost 12 months to the day, Middlesex hosted Surrey at Lord’s for the traditional London derby. Coincidentally, it was at that game that my now editor asked me to provide him a short verdict (or rather, what I now realise is a verdict) which was to form part of my interview with Cricinfo.
12 months on and the blog is featured in Wisden, and at Cricinfo. Funny ol’ world.
1 Comment »The Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 2006
By Will 2 years ago, mid-April, 3 Comments »
The Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 2006 launches tomorrow. I caught up with the editor, Matthew Engel, and you can read my mumblings at Cricinfo. We can also exclusively reveal the five Cricketers of the Year:
Andrew Flintoff was named Leading Cricketer in the World for 2005.
It’s also an exciting time for Cricinfo. After nearly four years of work, involving countless people, we have launched the Almanack online. This means you can search for any Wisden match report, article or obituary from 1864 - 2006! Pretty cool we hope you agree.
3 Comments »Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 2006
By Will 2 years ago, at the start of April, No Comments; be the first!
Talking of books, the season really must be upon us as the 2006 Almanack is released on April 12!. Hurrah.
Click here to get it from Amazon
No Comments »