Selvey M: A review of Wisden Almanack 1995 (06 Apr 95)

Illingworth comes under fire as Wisden teeth are bared - Mike Selvey

IT IS probably not the done thing to describe the sacred yellow tome as a rattling good read, as if it were tales of Bulldog Drummond. But this year`s edition of Wisden, published today and as ever guaranteed a place among the best sellers, really is that.

There was, of course, no shortage of material. During 1994 a batsman, Brian Lara, broke both major individual innings records, and a host of peripheral ones, within seven weeks; the leading Test run-scorer, Allan Border, and wicket-taker, Kapil Dev, retired from international cricket; and Peter May, judged the best English batsman since the war, shuffled off this mortal coil.

However, it is the capacity of the editor Matthew Engel to wander his Hereford estate, feeding the chickens and thinking laterally as well as vertically that gives Wisden its spark.

So the Five Cricketers of the Year are balanced by an alternative quintet selected from those who also serve by standing and waiting - literally in the case of the much loved Lord`s caterer Nancy Doyle. And there is an article on the history of cheating at cricket written by Derek Pringle, who incidentally conveys the idea that the whole game is a conspiracy against bowlers anyway.

Foremost, though, is Engel`s pulpit, which he would call a perk of the job. The Editor`s Notes are an annual tradition, like the Queen`s Christmas message, and this year`s, according to the publisher`s blurb, are among the hardest hitting in Wisden`s 132-year history. One would have to read them all to know, but he certainly touches a few raw nerves.

Raymond Illingworth, the new supremo of English cricket - the appointment was made after the Notes were written - gets short shrift for his handling of the England team in his first year as chairman of selectors. "One began to feel that the right adjective was the one never attached to him in his playing days: amateurish." He should, Engel suggests, be given overall control and, with it, the chance to put up or shut up. And so it came to pass.

Engel also calls for a World Test Cricket Championship, a sound idea, and for Australia, as holders of the Ashes, to be allowed to retain them in their country. This will raise MCC hackles but might be a shrewd move, for having seen what a pathetic totem they are the Australians might deem them not worth the effort. His further call that the benefit system be phased out because "it creates a culture of time-serving and mediocrity" is spot on.

Tim Munton, Steve Rhodes, Kepler Wessels, Devon Malcolm and Lara are the Famous Five. Lara`s record-breaking is documented beautifully elsewhere by using interviews with directly interested parties: Bob Woolmer, then the Warwickshire coach, for example, is believed to be the only man to have seen both Hanif`s 499 and Lara`s 501; and Alex Davis, the Warwickshire scorer, by filling that role for England in Antigua, documented every ball of the Test 375 as well as the county 501. The game is full of coincidences and connections.

* Wisden Cricketers` Almanack 1995, edited by Matthew Engel (John Wisden, pounds 23.50).

Source :: The Guardian