Well Done, Wisden

Cricket has always been accused of being a bit 'stuffy' and pompous. Not too surprising, when you consider that the MCC banned female membership there for 212 years, and commentators as ridiculously posh and upper-class like Henry Blofeld hardly help the image of the game in this respect.

However, the new Wisden Almanack (the cricketing bible) has today announced it's annual five Wisden Cricketers of the Year. They are James Anderson, Dale Benkenstein, Mark Boucher, Neil McKenzie and Claire Taylor.

Yes, that's right, Claire Taylor is a woman. She was the player of the tournament in the recent Woman's World Cup, and was an integral part in the team retaining the Ashes in Australia. Some people might shout "political correctness!" over this, but I disagree, Taylor is a worthy recipient. Hell, it's not as if the men's team has anything to shout about at the moment.

Will women's cricket suddenly explode in popularity because of this? No, probably not. But it's nice to know that they have been represented in some way by a respected cricket publication.