Charlie Townsend: A Gloucestershire giant from the league of Grace – Almanack
"Barring the Graces, Gloucestershire has produced no such remarkable cricketer"
"Barring the Graces, Gloucestershire has produced no such remarkable cricketer"
"It was agreed on all hands that Surrey had found a prize"
Those who remembered him as a boy prodigy were surprised only that his talents had taken so long to bear…
From hours of batting against his dad to playing first-class cricket with his son
"Accompanying DR Jardine's side of 1932/33 to Australia, Paynter earned undying fame"
"Venom was only part of his armoury"
“A very fine all-rounder, and unlucky that he played when England had an abundance of them”
"By then he was a god in my eyes, a status that has never really diminished"
"Sport is most fun when the underdog rises"
"My Test match average, 72, would have actually gone up had those runs been counted"
The latest issue of Wisden Cricket Monthly, guest-edited by Isa Guha, out May 5:
The 160th edition of the most famous sports book in the world – published every year since 1864 – contains some of the world’s finest sports writing. It reflects on the extraordinary life of Shane Warne, who died far too early in 2022, and looks back at another legendary bowler, S.F. Barnes, on the 150th anniversary of his birth. Wisden also reports on England’s triumph at the T20 World Cup, to go alongside their 2019 ODI success, and on their Test team’s thrilling rejuvenation under Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes.
Writers include Lawrence Booth, Gideon Haigh, James Holland, Jonathan Liew, Emma John, David Frith, Simon Wilde, Jon Hotten, Robert Winder, Tanya Aldred and Neil Harvey, the last survivor from Australia’s famous 1948 Ashes tour of England. As usual, Wisden includes the eagerly awaited Notes by The Editor, the Cricketers of The Year awards, and the obituaries. And, as ever, there are reports and scorecards for every Test, together with forthright opinion, compelling features and comprehensive records.
Cricket’s past is steeped in a tradition of great writing and Wisden is making sure its future will be too. The Nightwatchman is a quarterly collection of essays and long-form articles which debuted in March 2013 and is available in book and e-book formats.
Every issue features an array of authors from around the world, writing beautifully and at length about the game and its myriad offshoots.