Wisden Cricket Monthly

WISDEN CRICKET MONTHLY EDITOR’S LETTER So now we know. Australia will meet India in the final of the World Test Championship (WTC). The five-dayer will take place in June at The Oval, with a reserve day in the event of rain. With early ticket sales reportedly excellent, we can expect a packed house; but then you knew that already. In England, Test cricket lives forever. This is the match the game deserves. With due respect to New Zealand’s inaugural win of two years ago, the sight of Kane Williamson edging a run-chase in the winds and mizzle of a Covid-proofed bowl on the outskirts of Southampton wasn’t quite the opening night we were hoping for. This game feels like the big one. It has the makings of a classic. A…

TEMBA'S MOMENT Thrilled for Temba Bavuma. South Africa’s new Test captain made a superb 171 against West Indies last month. It may be just his second Test century in seven years, but he’s averaging 45 over the last three years and has protected his team against many a middle-order implosion. Even more than that, he has the intelligence and dignity to ride out the various storms that circulate around this singular cricketing culture. They are lucky to have him. EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD As an occasional contributor to this magazine, the writer and academic Roger Domeneghetti is always good value for some leftfield thinking and original insights, and in his latest book, Everybody wants to rule the world: Britain, sport and the 1980s, he focuses on that most…

Into the void, big men talk tough about sitting in rooms and getting round tables and thrashing things out. Yet there’s too often a despairing vagueness to the language. Anyone can identify the pressure points. A quick glance at the WTC table will highlight the inequities of such a financially unstable landscape. As South Africa’s supremo-commissioner, Smith is asking for “real, strong leadership” to protect this most unique and weirdly durable of art forms. But who will step up? I honestly believe that the Test game is ripe for its fourth act. Just look around you. New Zealand has just staged two of the greatestTests of all time, first at Wellington against England, and then in the gloaming at Christchurch against Sri Lanka with a two-wicket win from a scrambled…

J ames Anderson is caught down the leg-side off the bowling of Neil Wagner to give New Zealand a nail-biting one run-victory in an all-time classic Test match at the Basin Reserve. After dominating the opening Test, England appear to be cruising to a series-clinching victory after Ben Stokes asks the Black Caps to follow on, but Kane Williamson’s second-innings ton lays the platform for a grandstand finish on day five, Anderson’s last-gasp dismissal denying England a first series victory in New Zealand since 2008. 1st Test, Mount Maunganui February 16-19 England 325-9dec (Brook 89, Duckett 84; Wagner 4-82) & 374 (Root 57, Brook 54, Foakes 51; Tickner 3-55, Bracewell 3-68) v New Zealand 306 (Blundell 138, Conway 77; Robinson 4-54, Anderson 3-36) & 126 (Mitchell 57*; Anderson 4-18, Broad…

THE Top Six The month in cricket No.2 ANDREW MILLER Wisden Cricket Monthly columnist, UK editor of ESPNcricinfo and former editor of The Cricketer @miller_cricket The world cricket calendar is a bit like a downat-heel townhouse. Some aspects of its existing ‘character’ are period features that must be preserved at all costs; others are avocado bath fittings that are already decades out of date. But given how packed the men’s schedule already is, who could ever hope to make it fit for modern life? Who cares about the state of the tiling in the shower when the main concern is that someone will flush the downstairs toilet and steal all your hot water? In the midst of a winter that has boasted several outstanding features, England have twice been whitewashed…

THE Top Six The month in cricket No.3 1. Usman Khawaja Australia Khawaja has picked up where he left off after a stellar 2022, opening the year with a career-best 195* at the SCG against South Africa and continuing that form during Australia’s 2-1 series defeat in India. The 36-year-old bounced back from two failures in his first ever Test match in India to make 81 at Delhi, 60 in the tourists’ win at Indore and then a mammoth 180 in the drawn fourth match at Ahmedabad, the longest innings (611 minutes, 422 deliveries) ever played by an Australian in India. 2. Beth Mooney Australia & Gujarat Giants Mooney faced just four balls in the inaugural WPL, the Gujarat captain injuring her knee in the opening fixture of the tournament,…