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Wisden Cricketer's AlmanackWisden Cricketer's Almanack is by far the best known reference book concerned with the sport of cricket and probably the most famous reference book about any sport published in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1864 by the English cricketer John Wisden (1826-1884), and is an annual publication. It is often referred to simply as "Wisden" or colloquially as the "Bible of Cricket". Matthew Engel is the current editor. Wisden is a small-paged but very thick book (over 1500 pages) with a distinctive bright yellow cover. Traditionally a hardback, it is now also published in paperback. It is published each year in April, just before the start of the English cricket season. The contents include the following. - Comment: Around a fifty pages of articles on cricketing topics, including the introductory, "Notes by the Editor", which are always widely discussed in the cricketing world.
- Awards: The traditional Wisden Cricketers of the Year awards, and a recent innovation the Wisden Leading Cricketer of the World award.
- Records: Traditionally the main source of for key statistics about the game, although it's reputation for comprehensiveness is perhaps commonly overstated. Nowadays the records section in tiny compared to the data available online at cricinfo.
- English cricket: By far the largest section of the book. Hugely detailed coverage, including scorecards of every first class and List A game played in the previous English summer.
- Overseas cricket: Extensive coverage of international cricket and brief coverage of domestic first class cricket outside England.
- Administration and laws
- Miscellaneous: The best known subsection of this part of the book is "Birth and Deaths of Cricketers"
Collecting old Wisdens is a popular activity among cricket followers, and early editions command high prices. In recent times fascimilies of many of the early editions have been published. A separate Wisden Cricketer's Almanack Australia was introduced in the late 1990s. It is published at the beginning of the Australian season, that is around early December, and in contrast to the yellow original, it is bright green. It is also somewhat slimmer and cheaper as there are less games to report on in Australia, but otherwise the format and content are similar.
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