The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

ers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming of "Six Great Bowlers of the Year", and continued with the naming of "Nine Great Batsmen of the Year" in 1890 and "6 Great Wicket-Keepers" in 1891. Since 1897, with a few notable exceptions, the annual award has recognised five players of the year. No players were named in 1916 or 1917, as the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

prevented any

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

being played in England, while in 1918 and 1919 the recipients were five schoolboy cricketers. From 1941 to 1946, the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

caused the same issue and no players were named. Three players have been sole recipients:

W. G. Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English amateur cricketer who was important in the development of the sport and is widely considered one of its greatest players. He played first-class cricket for a record-equal ...

(1896),

Plum Warner Sir Pelham Francis Warner, (2 October 1873 – 30 January 1963), affectionately and better known as Plum Warner or "the Grand Old Man" of English cricket, was a Test cricketer and cricket administrator. He was knighted for services to sport in ...

(1921) and Jack Hobbs (1926). The latter two selections are the only exceptions to the rule that a player may receive the award only once. Hobbs was first recognised in 1909, but was selected a second time in 1926 to honour his breaking W. G. Grace's record of 126 first-class hundreds; Warner was first honoured in 1904, but received a second award in 1921 for his last season in first-class cricket, when he led

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

to a

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

win.

John Wisden John Wisden (5 September 1826 – 5 April 1884) was an English cricketer who played 187 first-class cricket matches for three English county cricket teams, Kent, Middlesex and Sussex. His father, William, was a builder. He attended Brighton's M ...

, cricketer and eponymous founder of the almanack, was featured in a special commemorative section in the Jubilee edition of the publication in 1913, 29 years posthumously. "Also I have left out of my reckoning John Wisden, founder of the Almanack, to whose memory the whole feature was devoted in the Jubilee issue of 1913—he died in 1884." As such, he is not a true Cricketer of the Year, but is included here for the sake of comprehensiveness. From 2000 to 2003 the award was made based on players' impact on cricket worldwide rather than just the preceding season in England, but the decision was reversed in 2004 with the introduction of a separate

Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World The ''Wisden'' Leading Cricketer in the World is an annual cricket award selected by ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack''. It was established in 2004, to select the best cricketer based upon their performances anywhere in the world in the previous c ...

award. The oldest surviving recipient of the award is Neil Harvey (1954), which he became in February 2022 with the death of Sonny Ramadhin. The longest that a recipient has lived after receiving the award is 77 years by Harry Calder (1918), who died in 1995. Calder, however, uniquely for a male recipient, played no first-class cricket. Among first-class players, the longest-lived after receipt of the award is 74 years by Wilfred Rhodes (1899). Eight women have been chosen: Claire Taylor (2009),

Charlotte Edwards Charlotte Marie Edwards (born 17 December 1979) is an English former cricketer and current cricket coach and commentator. She played primarily as a right-handed batter. She appeared in 23 Test matches, 191 One Day Internationals and 95 Twenty ...

(2014), Heather Knight (2018), Natalie Sciver (2018),

Anya Shrubsole Anya Shrubsole (born 7 December 1991) is an English cricketer who currently plays for Berkshire, Southern Vipers and the Southern Brave. She played for England between 2008 and 2022, and has previously played domestic cricket for Somerset, ...

(2018), Tammy Beaumont (2019), Ellyse Perry (2020) and Dane van Niekerk (2022). __TOC__

List of Cricketers of the Year

SLNSW 8523 England v Australia Test match England opening bats Jack Hobbs and Sutcliffe

References

General * Specific

External links

''Wisden'' online archive
(includes copies of the ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'' essays on each Cricketer of the Year)

on Cricinfo {{featured list Cricket awards and rankings British sports trophies and awards Wisden

List of Cricketers of the Year

See also

References

External links