2005
The 142nd edition was notable as for the first time in 45 years, all five Wisden Cricketers of the Year were English (only the third time since the Second World War, the other years being 1953 and 1960). It was also the most up-to-date, containing a report of England's tour of South Africa, which finished only a week before the book went to press. The Editor's Notes again took no prisoners with attacks on the ECB for selling television rights to satellite, the world's cricket boards in general ("it would not be difficult to argue that a majority of their governing bodies could, in varying degrees, be classified as either incompetent, corrupt, government-controlled or racist"), and the scheduling of the summer's Ashes ("total madness). Features ranged from Richie Benaud's tribute to Keith Miller to also an exclusive interview with the Slovak goalkeeper Maros Kolpak whose European Court case against the German handball league has led to an influx of overseas players into county cricket ("When he was told that cricketers are known as `Kolpak players', he roared with laughter"). The Almanack also included what is believed to be its first-ever pin-up. The near-nudity of Minki van der Westhuizen, girlfriend of South African captain Graeme Smith, was, of course, entirely essential to the plot.
Editor Matthew Engel
Pages 1648
Price £36
Almanack essays
Christmas Day at Headingley, anyone?
Hiatus at the ECB as county cricket loses the plot
The worst administrators in the world
'England's rise was the story of the year'
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2005
A mixed bag
A year of domestic tinkering
An agonising period
Cricket in the West Indies, 2003-04
Griffith, Buller and four overs which proved nothing
Hello Sky, Goodbye World
Shane Warne
The leading cricketer in the world, 2004
The end of the lime
Canterbury loses its tree, 2005
The Wisden Forty
The world's top players during 2004
National Cricket League Division One
National Cricket League Division Two
Twenty20 Cup
Series included
Asia Cup, 2004
England in Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, 2004-05
England in the West Indies, 2003-04
Sri Lanka A in England, 2004
The Australians in India, 2004-05
The Australians in Sri Lanka, 2003-04
The Australians in Zimbabwe, 2003-04
The Bangladeshis in The West Indies, 2003-04
The Bangladeshis in Zimbabwe, 2003-04
The Indians in Australia, 2003-04
The Indians in Bangladesh, 2004-05
The Indians in England, 2004
The Indians in Pakistan, 2003-04
The NatWest Series in England, 2004
The New Zealanders in Australia, 2004-05
The New Zealanders in Bangladesh, 2004-05
The New Zealanders in England
The Pakistanis in Australia, 2004-05
The Pakistanis in New Zealand, 2003-04
The Paktel GSM Cup, 2004-05
The South Africans in India, 2004-05
The South Africans in New Zealand, 2003-04
The South Africans in Sri Lanka, 2004
The Sri Lankans in Australia, 2004
The Sri Lankans in Pakistan, 2004-05
The Sri Lankans in Zimbabwe, 2003-04
The West Indians in England
The West Indians in Zimbabwe and South Africa, 2003-04
Too many flaws, too little excitement
VB Series, 2003-04
Videocon Cup, 2004
© John Wisden & Co
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