As now, throughout the twentieth century, “Wisden” was the authoritative voice of cricket. “A Century of Wisden” presents a selection from each “Wisden” of the 1900s; not necessarily the biggest news of each year, but some of the more intriguing selections from the twentieth century. Hence, we read about the growth of the new-fangled leg spin bowling from the 1902 edition, reports on the English team v Eighteen of California match from 1904 (Bernard Bosanquet taking 11/37) and the Eton v Harrow match from the 1911 edition, sharing the page with the report on the Centenary Test match and selections on the five cricketers deemed to be the century’s best (Sir Donald Bradman, Sir John Hobbs, Sir Vivian Richards, Sir Garfield Sobers and Shane Warne).

If nothing else, “A Century of Wisden” reminds us of the treasure that is “Wisden”. ( )