THE NEW WISDEN FOR 1938

Southland Times, Issue 23499, 4 May 1938, Page 14

THE NEW WISDEN FOR 1938

FINE VOLUME OF RECORDS

How many Tests have been played between England and Australia? How many batsmen have made 300 or more in an innings? What is the distance of the record hit by a batsman? Who holds the biggest number of long partnerships, England or Australia. Where were the greatest wicket-keep-ing feats performed? These and 100 other cricket questions are answered m the 1938 edition of Wisden’s Cricketers Almanack which has just been published. The New Wisden marks a departure in the layout and presentation of what has become known as the Cricketer s Bible. For 75 years Wisden has held pride of place among the authorities .on cricket, and although the new edition will appear rather strange to many readers the major principles which have served the book so well have been retained. Once again the feature “Five Cricketers of the Year” occupies a prominent position. The usual group photograph of the five players has been supplanted, however, by an individual portrait of the player at the head of the sketch of his career. The feature loses none of its attractiveness by this change. Wisden has chosen T. W. J. Goddard, Gloucestershire, J. Hardstaff, Nottinghamshire, L. Hutton, Yorkshire, J. H. Parks, Sussex, and F. Paynter, Lancashire as the five cricketers of the year.

Special articles by leading cricketers and supporters of the game will be welcomed.

G. O. Allen talks about more natural wickets, the Hon. Mr Justice Herbert V. Evatt, of the High Court of Australia, writes on Don Bradman, and his article is accompanied by a full-page action photograph; Titch Freeman illustrates his article on spin bowling with pictures of his grips; and Patsy Hendren, on his retirement, contributes some controversial and entertaining reflections. Yorkshire finds itself no longer at the head of the reviews of the first-class counties. The order has been made alphabetical, so the first is now last. Also, combined with the Nottinghamshire section there is an article by A. W. Shelton on the .centenary of Trent Bridge. ’ The editor, in his “Notes,” comments on the report of the Cricket Commission, the eight-ball over, the England captaincy, and the duration of Test matches giving his reasons for looking to the future with optimism. WOMEN’S CRICKET Again Wisden has not overlooked the growth and increasing appeal of women’s cricket, more particularly the exchange of visits between England and Australian teams. So far the first time in the history of the book there is a special section dealing with women’s cricket, which includes a report and full scores of all England v. Australia Test matches played to date. The universities and public schools are dealt with in special sections, and “Cricket in the Empire” covers the tour of the 1936-417 M.C.C. team in Australia as well as the tour of Canada in the autumn of 1937. John Wisden published the first edition of Wisden’s Cricketers’ Almanack in 1864, and until 1937 it continued to be published by the firm of which he was the founder, each year increasing in size and authority. Last year the proprietors decided that it would be to the advantage of the book and the convenience of the cricket public generally for it to be published by a trade house, so arrangements were made with J. Whitaker and Sons, Ltd., publishers of the famous Whitaker’s Almanack, for its issue through them.