Apologies, then, to Josh Hazlewood, Jack Leach, Jason Roy, Rohit Sharma and Mitchell Starc. In another year, they might have made a compelling Five. But the summer of 2019 – World Cup, Ashes and all – was always likely to throw up a crowded list of candidates; not every drop of cream could rise to the top.

Lawrence Booth explains the dilemma in selecting Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year after a summer that saw some staggering performances from some of the best in business in a World Cup and an Ashes series.

Cricketers of the Year have been chosen by Wisden since 1889, usually in clumps of five (though there has also been a nine, a six, a four and three ones), and rarely without the editor’s sanity being questioned. But there is, in theory, a method to the madness: a player is picked only once, a quirk which is part of the award’s charm and distinctiveness; and, according to Almanack rubric, the selection is made on the basis of “excellence in and/or influence on the previous English summer”.

Winners have not always ticked both boxes, but the bar for admission to the class of 2020 was necessarily high. Leach, for instance, achieved near-cult status for his nightwatchman’s 92 against Ireland, his one not out at Headingley, and his sweaty specs; he even spawned his own mask. Had he bowled Somerset to their first Championship title on the last day of the season, who knows? But an Ashes haul of 12 wickets was unexceptional. In the end, his influence outdid his excellence.

The Five Cricketers have never claimed to represent the five best players of the previous summer; there are plenty of awards for that. Instead, they represent a one-off invitation to a hall of fame that now includes over 600 members. It’s possible no set of Five has set such high standards.