'I'd forgotten how hard the job is'
After a three-year sabbatical, Matthew Engel has returned to edit the 141st edition of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
07-Apr-2004
After a three-year sabbatical, Matthew Engel has returned to edit the 141st edition of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. Here, he talks about what's changed in that time, what's remained the same, and why even the game's administrators deserve some praise from time to time:
 |
|
This year Wisden has named a Leading Player of the Year for the first time - why?
The Five Cricketers of the Year have served us very well. They've been going for 115 years and I hope they'll go on for another 115. But you can only be a Cricketer of the Year once, and we've found that award works best if it's based firmly on the English season. So we needed a genuinely global Wisden accolade. And this is it.
The Five Cricketers of the Year have served us very well. They've been going for 115 years and I hope they'll go on for another 115. But you can only be a Cricketer of the Year once, and we've found that award works best if it's based firmly on the English season. So we needed a genuinely global Wisden accolade. And this is it.
And once again, there's another picture on the cover ...
Well, what a remarkable fuss it caused. Very gratifying, in a way: Wisden has picture on cover, shock horror. I asked every Wisden reader I met what they thought and hardly anyone objected to the idea of a picture on the cover, though a good many - like me - felt the design used in 2003 for the first pictorial cover didn't work. For me, the other issue was that I didn't think we necessarily wanted to be committed to put a player on the cover every year. If Ricky Ponting gets chosen as the Leading Player for ten years running, we certainly don't want him on the cover every year. Look at the Playfair annual, for example: their cover's become a bit of a jinx. I agonised long and hard about this and we put the problem to Will Webb, chief designer for our publishing partners Bloomsbury. And he came up with something that I believe is very handsome, and robust enough to cope with many different possibilities. I hope people will look forward to finding out what the cover looks like each year. We may even surprise them. But the basic design will, I hope, remain.
Well, what a remarkable fuss it caused. Very gratifying, in a way: Wisden has picture on cover, shock horror. I asked every Wisden reader I met what they thought and hardly anyone objected to the idea of a picture on the cover, though a good many - like me - felt the design used in 2003 for the first pictorial cover didn't work. For me, the other issue was that I didn't think we necessarily wanted to be committed to put a player on the cover every year. If Ricky Ponting gets chosen as the Leading Player for ten years running, we certainly don't want him on the cover every year. Look at the Playfair annual, for example: their cover's become a bit of a jinx. I agonised long and hard about this and we put the problem to Will Webb, chief designer for our publishing partners Bloomsbury. And he came up with something that I believe is very handsome, and robust enough to cope with many different possibilities. I hope people will look forward to finding out what the cover looks like each year. We may even surprise them. But the basic design will, I hope, remain.
What changes will we find inside?
A lot. Wisden needs stability, and I hope the changes we've made will last a good many years. The big change is that Wisden is now a book squarely based on the calendar year: we no longer knock off in September, so this is intended as an overview of the year 2003. The aim was to produce a book that works in the internet age. Nowadays we have Cricinfo, and for looking up a quick fact, the website is often a great deal more effective than a book. It can be constantly updated, for a start. But Wisden is there to be browsed and enjoyed and to give a cool, level-headed view of the game. With Wisden it's a great deal easier to find out something you didn't know you wanted to know in the first place.
A lot. Wisden needs stability, and I hope the changes we've made will last a good many years. The big change is that Wisden is now a book squarely based on the calendar year: we no longer knock off in September, so this is intended as an overview of the year 2003. The aim was to produce a book that works in the internet age. Nowadays we have Cricinfo, and for looking up a quick fact, the website is often a great deal more effective than a book. It can be constantly updated, for a start. But Wisden is there to be browsed and enjoyed and to give a cool, level-headed view of the game. With Wisden it's a great deal easier to find out something you didn't know you wanted to know in the first place.
You've rather broken with tradition by praising the game's administration ...
That's a bit of a joke, really. We've always given credit where it's due. Our job is to be level-headed. Administrators do a lot of good work on behalf of the game. But when we believe they're wrong, we will say so.
That's a bit of a joke, really. We've always given credit where it's due. Our job is to be level-headed. Administrators do a lot of good work on behalf of the game. But when we believe they're wrong, we will say so.
But the ECB still come in for some stick
I think we've praised and criticised various groups quite even-handedly: the ECB and the Cricket Reform Group in the UK, and the ICC globally. I'm sure each side will only notice the criticism, forget their differences and then unite to abuse me.
I think we've praised and criticised various groups quite even-handedly: the ECB and the Cricket Reform Group in the UK, and the ICC globally. I'm sure each side will only notice the criticism, forget their differences and then unite to abuse me.
And you've pronounced on the suggestions of the Cricket Reform Group ...
I think they do have some good ideas. But they have proposed them in a very dogmatic way without necessarily researching them properly or thinking them through. No-one has a monopoly of wisdom in cricket.
I think they do have some good ideas. But they have proposed them in a very dogmatic way without necessarily researching them properly or thinking them through. No-one has a monopoly of wisdom in cricket.
How do you decide on the Five Cricketers of the Year?
The final choice is the editor's. I listen to lots of different opinions, though, especially from other cricket writers, and always take them on board. It should be a personal choice, though, not a consensus. The occasional weird selection is what makes them such fun.
The final choice is the editor's. I listen to lots of different opinions, though, especially from other cricket writers, and always take them on board. It should be a personal choice, though, not a consensus. The occasional weird selection is what makes them such fun.
So who are they?
Chris Adams, Andrew Flintoff, Ian Harvey, Gary Kirsten and Graeme Smith.
Chris Adams, Andrew Flintoff, Ian Harvey, Gary Kirsten and Graeme Smith.
Some might argue that it's a backward step to focus exclusively on "the English season" when assessing cricketers of the year ...
Many of the world's best players are in England, with counties or touring teams, every year. Sometimes most of them are over here. This year, with the Champions Trophy, nearly all of them will be. I feel it makes the award more distinctive and better-focused. There are very few great players of the past who have never been a Cricketer of the Year.
Many of the world's best players are in England, with counties or touring teams, every year. Sometimes most of them are over here. This year, with the Champions Trophy, nearly all of them will be. I feel it makes the award more distinctive and better-focused. There are very few great players of the past who have never been a Cricketer of the Year.
So what's the Wisden Forty?
Well, this is the companion-piece: the 40 best players in the world based on our assessment of their form in 2003. It's not a statistical judgment. We look at Test cricket, one-day internationals and the domestic game too: two of the choices are there for their form in domestic cricket, in England and/or Australia. I considered all kinds of numbers from the Top 10 to the Top 100. Fifty was the favourite at one stage, but we found that way you were getting down to some relatively moderate players. Thirty was too easy: 20 names seemed obvious. Forty felt just right.
Well, this is the companion-piece: the 40 best players in the world based on our assessment of their form in 2003. It's not a statistical judgment. We look at Test cricket, one-day internationals and the domestic game too: two of the choices are there for their form in domestic cricket, in England and/or Australia. I considered all kinds of numbers from the Top 10 to the Top 100. Fifty was the favourite at one stage, but we found that way you were getting down to some relatively moderate players. Thirty was too easy: 20 names seemed obvious. Forty felt just right.
|
|
|
Is it a worry, with the Ashes approaching next year, that there are still 14 Aussies and only three Englishmen in the list?
Yup, if you're English. But that could well change in 2004. It will fun finding out how the numbers change in a year's time.
Yup, if you're English. But that could well change in 2004. It will fun finding out how the numbers change in a year's time.
You've led with a big feature on Steve Waugh. How much has he influenced the game over the past two decades?
I think Nasser Hussain's piece says it all. He's captured Steve Waugh brilliantly, with real insights, and I hope people buy the book and read it.
I think Nasser Hussain's piece says it all. He's captured Steve Waugh brilliantly, with real insights, and I hope people buy the book and read it.
This is the first Almanack you've edited since 2000, how does it feel to be back?
I'd forgotten how hard it is in the last couple of months before deadline each year, and this was a particularly difficult year because we were trying a lot of new ideas. But I love the challenge of it and it's still a great honour.
I'd forgotten how hard it is in the last couple of months before deadline each year, and this was a particularly difficult year because we were trying a lot of new ideas. But I love the challenge of it and it's still a great honour.
One of the hidden delights of Wisden is spotting strange occurrences that have happened in cricket around the world. What are your favourite ones this year?
I think our Index of Unusual Occurrences is a cracker this year: pure poetry. I think people should buy the book just to read them aloud and savour them all.
I think our Index of Unusual Occurrences is a cracker this year: pure poetry. I think people should buy the book just to read them aloud and savour them all.