Wisden Cricketers Almanack 2016

Attentive soldier trees surround an array of blooms supplying an army of nectar gathering bees, their onomatopoeic background sound interrupted only by the 'thwack' of willow on leather cutting through the warm, still air. Nothing sums up an English summer better than an idyllic afternoon spent lazing in a deckchair, drink in hand, watching cricket on a village green. With a copy of the latest Wisden to delve into during tea, what isn't there to like?Well, the County Championship season started the Sunday before Wisden was available and what do you know? Whilst the county itself bathed in temperatures nudging 75ºF, Kent's opening fixture in Worcester was abandoned without a ball being bowled. Still, the bonus was it meant they avoided defeat. Mind you, it doesn't make reading about last year's exploits any easier.The editorial is once again first class, with a near page given over to taking a leaf from the women's game by giving points for international matches to arrive at a champion country. It's a simple idea and easy to administer but it's the short sighted cricket boards who get in the way. Less simple is the brief mentions of franchise cricket for T20, an idea that will disenfranchise thousands of county supporters who have no affinity with a city.Looking back at a golden age of cricket, only two men remain alive who played first class cricket before WW2. It's a brilliant read. Also superb are the colour photos, on of which shows a bunch of lads in Mumbai having a game on the outside lane of the Eastern Freeway as buses and cars hurtle past. Also from India is a short piece and scorecard from the world record 1,009* scored by Pranav Dhanawade. All is not what it seemed.It's strange reading how the perennial cricket book of the year should, itself, have a cricket book of the year, and this year it happens to be Simon Jones's 'The Test', though 21 others were mentioned in dispatches. Many of the books mentioned are of a long bygone era when cricket grounds were packed; how Derbyshire would like a return to those days, as 2015 saw an average daily attendance of just 415 hardy souls when any play was possible. Compare that to the average of 2,959 for the T20 and you can see the way the game is heading.Sadly, 2015 had a surfeit of names to add to the obituaries section. Richie Benaud, Brian Close, Frank Tyson,, Clive Rice Tom Graveney, Arthur Morris, Bob Appleyard and even Allen Roberts, who had just three First Class innings in two matches for New Zealand Services in England in 1945, are just eight of many, but each one deserves their place in the pantheon.Wisden isn't really a book that needs to be reviewed. The committed fan will buy it anyway and it's not really something to tempt anyone else other than someone who likes cricket. Followers of the game know what to expect and where it will be within the pages. It can't be given anything but a five.

I last bought a Wisden about 30 years ago and I'm glad to see they haven't tinkered with the original format (though some of the print size is getting a bit small for me to read). Many interesting articles. I particularly like the comprehensive records for all past and present Test players. I used to like looking at the Sheffield Shield scorecards, but these have now been telescoped into brief summaries - I suppose with so much more cricket to cover around the world, something has to give. £50 seems a bit steep to pay for a new copy, but if you wait for a year or so you can pick one up for a tenner, as I did.

I rather suspect that most people (it not all) know whether or not they're going to buy this book before they read the reviews here, but here goes. This book looks at the year in world cricket that was 2015, with a particularly English focus on things, and the English Season in particular. It has all the usual content you find in a Wisden, details of county games, one day tournaments there, and test matches and the like, and opinion pieces about how the game has progressed over the past year.If you're stats minded and are the sort who'll want to refer back to what happened in a game, a player or a season in the future, I think this is book is for you. It gives you a good sense of what 2016 was like in cricket.

This is one of the best books money can buy. Every year. The stats; the record of all professional, and mamy amateur, games played; the laws; lots of trivia (OK, I can do without, but I get the point); and running through the whole thing the love of this great game in all its forms. Behind this the editor's notes provide the usual coruscating look at the corrupt and mendacious ways in which the global game is administered and broadcast. for the powerless cricket lover, then, it's an almost magical wronging of right, as well as a record of the previous year's achievements. I sometimes wonder what those horrid administrators make of it, but then again since it is about cricket rather than money, I don't suppose any of them give it a second glance.

Wow!Although I have always been an avid cricket fan, believe it or not, this is the first Wisden I have actually purchased!Cheapskate I hear you cry! And, whilst this is probably true, I have always relied on my dear old Dad's collection, and thus never say the need to imbibe myself so to speak.However, terrific though my Dad has always been having to view me rummaging through his carefully preserved collection (59 volumes to date no less!), I decided enough was enough, and took the plunge.I decided to opt for the large format version of the 2016 tome, and I am rather glad I did as I find it easier to flick through.Highly recommended.

My review of my recent order of the Wisden Cricketers Almanack 2016 is to say that I am very happy and pleased with it and give it the highest rating possible. It was brand new, sealed and I am getting a lot of pleasure from reading it, particularly as Cricket is one of my main hobbies / sport interest anyway. I placed the order on Amazon and as ever with Amazon the order arrived at my postal address very quickly indeed. I would recommend this Cricket book to anybody that loves their cricket and I would say the best place to purchase it would be via Amazon for sure!!.

Excellent as ever and at a bargain price.

In 2015 Yorkshire won the country Championship a second time and I had to get this book as a souvenir as same as the previous one. Some great memories in this book again.