Imprinting the 22 yards, the John Wisden way

The Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack is the longest running and most read sports annual. It is published every year in the month of April

Cricket in India is nothing short of a religion and for all religions there is a book which holds the answers. And, for cricket, call it a Bible, Gita or Quran, it’s The Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack. And the man who poured life into the Almanack, John Wisden, whose 187th birth anniversary was celebrated on September 5, 2013. John Wisden was born in Brighton, Great Britain, in the year 1826. He started his career on the 22-yard pitch at the age of 19.

He made his debut for the county team of Sussex. He was acclaimed as one of the best all-rounders of his time. He was initially nicknamed as ‘The Little Wonder, as he bowled pace and took close to ten wickets in every game. Eventually he toned the pace down and became a medium pacer. Wisden’s statistics amazed everyone as he took 1109 wickets with a bowling average of 10.3. He also made 4140 runs with a batting average of 14.12 during his time on the pitch.

But his cricketing career was short lived as he retired from first-class cricket in 1863, at the age of 37. As long as he was on the field, he was remarkable to watch. But he had managed to make a larger mark in cricketing history when he went off the field, when he began publishing the Wisden Circketers’ Almanack in 1864. It was an annual publication that rounded up the cricketing year. It had a list of featured awards, records and a detailed coverage of all the matches. In present times, the Almanack is a part of Bloomsbury Publishing.

Initially it was regarded as an amateurish enterprise as the Almanack started carrying commercials. Back then it wasn’t much the bible it is regarded today. During the years John Wisden published the Almanack, it wasn’t on a perfect annual cycle but went for a month or two amiss. Later on, it became something regular that readers and cricket enthusiasts waited for to lay their hands on.

The Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack is the longest running and most read sports annual. It is published every year in the month of April. In 2012, the Wisden India Almanack was launched with Rahul Dravid and Virat Kohli on its cover. It was the first edition of its kind.

"It was an honour to kickstart a career in sports journalism at an establishment that has earned the respect of cricket lovers for more than a century. When John Wisden launched the Wisden Cricketer’s Almanack in 1864, little did he know of the impact it would have on the game and its followers in the 150 years to come", said Himanish Bhattacharjee, an employee at Wisden India. John Wisden died at the age of 57 in 1884 due to cancer. He worked on 20 publications of the Almanack before he passed away. Even Google, dedicated a yellow and red doodle to mark his birth anniversary.