Second Edition.
The long, hot cricket summer of 1998-99 was one of the most exciting and unruly in memory. The second edition of this Wisden Almanack covers its events in the sort of depth and breadth synonymous with the name for 135 years.
It was a season of triumph. Peter Roebuck's Notes traverse the nine months of international cricket that commenced with Australia's first successful campaign in Pakistan for almost forty years, encompassed successful defences of the Ashes and the Frank Worrell Trophy, and culminated in triumph at the World Cup.
It was also a season of controversy. Mark Ray provides a thorough account of developments in the long-running betting scandal, which saw both Shane Warne and Mark Waugh amidst to having provided information to a bookmaker, and Michael Roberts a reassessment of Sri Lanka's feisty captain Arjuna Ranatunga.
John Benaud contributes a perceptive perspective of retired Australian captain Mark Taylor, while the statistical benchmarks achieved by Taylor and Ian Healy in Pakistan are recalled by Tim Lane and Jim Tucker. Stephen Fay analyses Australia's remarkable comeback in the World Cup. Looking back, to mark the 100th birthday of Australia's traditional green and gold livery, Phil Derriman explores its antiquity. Looking forward, as this is the last annual to bear the Wisden imprint this millennium, there is a hilarious prospectus for cricket in the next by Ross Stevenson.
In a fashion faithful to the Wisden name, the Australian game is documented in all its richness, from Sheffield Shield and Mercantile Mutual Cup to first-grade, country, women's and blind cricket. There is our directory of first-class cricketers, entertaining reviews of cricket publications and the media, and a detailed obituary section. Few summers were as eventful as 1998-98, and no annual as complete as Wisden.
