English edition

In 30 years of reading Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, I have opened each weighty journal of cricket's year with a sense of anticipation, often excitement. Wisden readers - addicts that we are - know the pleasure of thumbing through page after page of records and scorecards, reading about tours and matches imagined but unseen, and catching magical glimpses of sporting eccentricity.

Wisden speaks with authority on the controversies and political entanglements that engulf cricket, a tradition dating back to the Almanack's first editors, notably Sydney Pardon, who established the 'Notes by the Editor', and, in the process of his campaign to eradicate throwing, the unofficial conscience of cricket. When CB Fry was finally called for bowling with a bent arm, Pardon rejoiced. "A case of long-delayed justice," he stated.

A century later the chucking controversy is still with us but in a neat irony Pardon's editorial heir stands with cricket's reformists and the 15-degree tolerance law. 'Notes by the Editor' have survived too, and Matthew Engel judges that when it comes to the new regulations on throwing, the ICC has "got this one right". The ICC and administrators generally do little to Engel's liking, so this is high praise. Wisden, contrary to an urban myth that labels it an establishment mouthpiece, is an uncomfortably independent voice for the game's rulers, particularly when the editor is in full flow.

Engel's mission has been to strive for the relevance of his publication. His cautious embrace of modernisation is tempered by an acute sense of the spirit and the tradition of cricket. Nonetheless this is a tricky editorial challenge for a publication acclaimed as the 'Bible of cricket' - a tag that conjures up a sense of authority but hints at irrelevance. Wisden today - it comes as a relief to say - is different in many ways to the Wisden I picked up as a schoolboy. A tasteful picture in black and white adorns the cover. The contents page does what it is supposed to do. The leading cricketer in the world is selected as part of the Wisden Forty, a roll call of today's best players. And a world view section summarises the previous year's international cricket.

The Almanack looks and reads like a publication of the moment. Much of the credit for this goes to Engel, but also to Graeme Wright before him, and Tim de Lisle, who was editor for a year between Wright and Engel and the most innovative of the three. The editor's notes are compelling - the work of a master journalist at play. Engel's celebration of the 150th anniversary of Pardon's birth connects modern readers with cricket's heritage, as does David Frith's enlightening rendition of the story of chucking, and Robert Winder's exploration of the demise of West Indian support in England.

History, of course, is what Wisden does best. But here, alongside historical perspectives are warm insights into our modern game. Malcolm Ashton, England's scorer, bagman, and analyst at various points, recounts his part in the management revolution that produced Team England. Angus Fraser is an inspired choice to reflect on the retirements of his friends and adversaries. Alan Lee laments the emerging division in village cricket that separates the cuddly game that he grew up with from a modern ruthless form that prides itself on competitiveness and foreign imports.

But the big billing for this year's Wisden is that it is devoted to England's most successful season ever, and that, for me, is where it falls flat on its face. Engel recognises the tension between "a book published and primarily sold in the UK, and one with a global view of the game". This, though, is very much an English Wisden, celebrating Michael Vaughan's 11 Test wins in 2004. Engel urges readers not to be cynical about this phenomenal winning streak but - despite clear evidence of England's genuine resurgence - it is hard not to be cautious when seven of those wins have come against a whimpering West Indian team.

The biggest folly is Engel's selection of English players as the Five Cricketers of the Year. Ashley Giles, Steve Harmison, Robert Key, Andrew Strauss, and Marcus Trescothick are the men keeping out Virender Sehwag and Jacques Kallis. Engel's defence is that the award is based on England's season. So be it, but it is a policy that will limit the appeal of the Almanack for an increasingly globally-minded readership, even in England. Engel's Almanack has many attributes but its world view is too limited for my taste, obsessed with English and Australian cricket - Shane Warne is The Leading Cricketer in the World - in a way that distorts the cricket year. The nine-page review of international cricket manages to find all of three sentences for India's historic trip to Pakistan - and that just about says it all really.