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Hussain the best England captain since Brearley; Anderson pips Beckham in the bar
Nasser Hussain is the best England captain since Mike Brearley and more people would prefer to drink with James Anderson than David Beckham, according to the findings of an exclusive survey commissioned to mark the publication of the first issue of The Wisden Cricketer magazine. Despite the abrupt end of his Test captaincy, Hussain is rated more highly than any England captain since Brearley, well ahead of other leaders including Atherton, Gatting, Gooch, Gower, Greig, Stewart, Denness and Cowdrey. Among postwar captains only Peter May, Ray Illingworth and Brearley were voted ahead of Hussain.

Drinking with Anderson, not Beckham
Cricket followers appear to be immune to the massive hype surrounding soccer, and David Beckham in particular. Seven out of ten say they would prefer to have a drink with rising England pace bowler James Anderson than they would the England soccer captain. And despite the contrasts in profile and pay packets, eight out of ten say they would prefer their daughters to marry a cricketer rather than a soccer player.

Umpires should be dropped
A huge majority (92%) support the idea that umpires should be treated more like players, with those consistently making poor decisions being dropped. And while most people did not agree that Hawkeye technology should be used by umpires to reach lbw decisions (65% against), opinions were more evenly divided on whether the ICC should adopt more technology to help get the correct decisions at international level (55:45 in favour).

Corruption still taking place
The Wisden Cricketer survey canvassed opinions among English cricket fans, asking a wide range of topical and sometimes controversial questions. One of these was on the subject of corruption, where seven out of ten say they believe that corrupt practice is still taking place in world cricket, despite assurances to the contrary from the game's authorities. Perhaps more surprisingly, fewer than a third said that it spoilt their enjoyment of the game.

Sledging OK in Tests
According to more than half of respondents, sledging is acceptable at the highest levels of the game. This view altered substantially however when the same question was asked about village cricket. Two thirds say it is not acceptable at recreational level, although one in three admit to sledging when they actually play.

On the domestic front there was overwhelming support for the ECB's new Twenty20 competition, with 97% saying it was a success and 87% believing it would work as well next year.

Benaud top commentator by a mile
Channel 4's coverage of the game was also highly rated (77%), while a poll of TV commentators from all stations saw almost half the votes cast awarded to runaway winner Richie Benaud. Of the other nominations only Botham, Atherton and Nicholas received double figures.

Return of the Ashes?
Only half of England followers believe their team has any chance of winning back the Ashes in 2005, a view perhaps influenced by the fact that 70% of them think Shane Warne should be picked to play for Australia again, despite his recent controversies. Continuing the Australian theme, Sydney is the Englishman's favourite choice of ground to watch England play Test cricket, although Lord's is still seen as the home of world cricket by 85% of respondents.

The Wisden Cricketer is published for the first time on Friday, September 19, at a price of £3.25, including a free 48-page collection of photographs covering England on tour by Patrick Eagar.

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