Wisden is widely accepted as the Bible of cricketing books. First published in 1864, it started a new feature in 1889, highlighting cricketers with outstanding performances in the previous year. In 1889 Wisden began naming Cricketers of the Year, starting with Six Great Bowlers of the Year, followed by Nine Great Batsmen of the Year in 1890, and Five Great Wicketkeepers of the Year in 1891.From 1892, when it had already reached the considerable size of 448 pages, Wisden settled into a more regular pattern of picking the five players with the best performances in the preceding year and largely the previous English season.

This list of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year constitutes cricket’s earliest equivalent of a Hall of Fame. This pattern has continued with minimal change for over 130 years. Only on three occasions there were single recipients of this award, Sir WG Grace in 1896, Sir Pelham Warner in 1921 and Sir Jack Hobbs in 1926. The last two are also the only exceptions to the rule that a player may win this award only once in their lifetime. Warner won it twice in 1904 and 1921, while Hobbs won it in 1909 and 1926.

Eighteen Pakistanis have been included in this prestigious list, usually for their performances in the previous English summer.

1950s to 1979

The first Pakistani to be chosen as one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year was Fazal Mahmood in the 1955 Wisden. He was rewarded for his outstanding performances on the 1954 tour where he took 77 wickets at just 17.53 runs apiece, and almost single-handedly won the Oval Test for Pakistan with a haul of 12 wickets for 99 runs.

Mushtaq Mohammad was the next Pakistani on this list in the 1963 Wisden, following Pakistan’s disastrous tour of England in 1962. While Pakistan were routed 4-0, an eighteen year old Mushtaq stood tall, scoring 401 runs in the five test series including a match saving 55 and 100 not out in the 4th test at Trent Bridge. He scored 1614 runs on the tour at an average of 41.38, demonstrating his fluent strokemaking skills, as well as a solid and compact defense.

Two Pakistanis were added to this list in the 1968 Wisden. For Hanif Mohammad the honour came on his third tour of England. Captaining Pakistan on their 1967 tour, he showed his class with an unbeaten innings of 187 made in nine hours in the opening Test at Lord’s against hostile fast bowling from John Snow, who repeatedly bounced him. John Arlott described it as the best innings of the entire season.

Asif Iqbal was the other entrant in this 1968 list for outstanding performances in the three-Test series. After partnering Hanif in 130 run stand for the eighth wicket in the opening test, Asif played an amazing innings in the third Test. Trailing by 224 runs on the first innings, Pakistan were 65 for 8 in their second knock, when Asif, in the company of Intikhab Alam, launched a remarkable comeback. He counter attacked with a subtle combination of grace and ferocity scoring 146 runs in under three and a half hours, embellished with 21 fours and 2 sixes. His ninth wicket stand of 190 with Intikhab was a record for the time.

Majid Khan was chosen as one of the five Cricketers of the Year in 1970. This was for his performances for Glamorgan in their county championship winning year of 1969. Wisden described his batting as ‘sheer magic.’ In the final match of the championship, on a difficult wicket, he scored 156 out of 214 in 200 minutes, to earn Glamorgan the title. His batting was supplemented by superb, close to the wicket, catching.

In the 1972 Wisden, Zaheer Abbas made the list. On Pakistan’s tour of England the previous year, Zaheer had announced his arrival on the world stage as a batsman of rare pedigree. Starting with a century in the opening match against Worcestershire, he stamped his class with an innings of 274 in the first test at Edgbaston. His cover driving and wristy strokes square of the wicket on the backfoot, delighted the connoisseurs of the game. His tour tally was 1508 runs at an average of 55.85.

1980-1999

There was a 10 year wait before another Pakistani made it to this hallowed list. Javed Miandad was honoured in the 1982 Wisden for his superb show in the 1981 county season. For Glamorgan, he scored 2083 first-class runs in the season with eight centuries at an average of 69.43. One day cricket brought another 746 runs at an average of 46.62. Audacious and inventive in his stroke play, Miandad’s batting was appreciated as some of the best ever seen in England.

In 1983, Wisden awarded the great Imran Khan an entry to this list. Imran had captained Pakistan on their tour of England in 1982 and produced one of the best ever displays of all round cricket by a visiting captain. With 212 runs at an average of 53.00 and 21 wickets costing just 18.57 runs apiece, Imran led from the front and was acclaimed by many, including Mike Brearley, as the best fast bowler and best all-rounder in the game at the time.

Pakistan’s next tour of England in 1987 generated another name for this coveted list. The name was Salim Malik, who played a masterly innings at Headingly, Leeds to take Pakistan to victory in the only test of the series that was not drawn. Headingly is a notoriously difficult wicket to bat on, where aided by damp weather, the wicket offers bowlers both considerable seam and swing. Good technique is essential for survival. Playing very straight, Salim made a patient 99 and his contribution was enough to allow Pakistan an innings victory.

Waqar Younis was chosen as one of Wisden’s cricketers of the year in 1992 following his explosive introduction to county cricket in 1991. Extreme pace, deadly reverse swing and toe crushing yorkers produced an unplayable combination that led to 113 first-class wickets at 14.65 apiece and another 39 victims in one-dayers.

The 1993 edition of Wisden saw Waqar’s great opening bowling partner Wasim Akram on the list. He was rewarded for his share in Pakistan’s series win in England in 1992, in which he and Waqar played a leading role. Their combined variety and aggression made them the most lethal pace bowling pair that the game had probably ever witnessed. Wasim was labeled as the Sultan of swing and the greatest left arm fast bowler of all time.

Pakistan’s next tour of England in 1996 resulted in two further additions to Wisden’s list the following year. The wily Mushtaq Ahmed, with his indecipherable googlies, was a handful for the English batsmen. In both he 1st test at Lords and the 3rd Test at the Oval he spun England out on the la day of the Test, claiming 5 for 57 and 6 for 78 respectively, leaving Pakistan 2-0 winners in the three match series.

Saeed Anwar was the other name on the prized list. On the tour he scored 1224 runs in all first-class matches and 362 runs in the tests, averaging over 60 per innings in both cases. His 176 in the Oval Test was the finest innings of the summer as he repeatedly square drove a strong English pace attack for 28 boundaries.

This Millennium 2000-2021

Saqlain Mushtaq had a prodigious season with the ball in England in 1999, winning him a place as one of the cricketers of the year in the 2000 Wisden. The inventor of the ‘doosra’ Saqlain baffled all opponents on the county circuit, helping Surrey to the county championship title with 58 wickets from just 7 matches at an average of 11.37. In addition, he took 37 wickets in county cricket one-dayers and 17 wickets in the 1999 World Cup.

2006 saw Mohammad Yousuf in sublime form. He scored a record 1788 runs, which remains the highest tally in a calendar year. During Pakistan’s controversy littered tour of England that summer Yousuf’s form was exquisite. Caressing the ball through the field with minimal effort he had scores of 202 at Lord’s, 192 at Leeds and 128 at the Oval. In 4 Tests in the series he scored 631 runs for an average of 90.14. Added to his were 232 runs in ODI’s at 77.33 per innings. His performances earned him a place in the 2007 Wisden as one of the cricketers of the year.

Younis Khan made the list in 2017. Pakistan were 2-1 down in the 4-match series in England in 2016, despite winning the first Test. The final test was at the Oval and Younis had been in relatively poor form. However, he had a reputation for delivering under trying conditions. With a slight adjustment in his technique, Younis played one of his best innings, mixing smooth and silky strokes with powerful hits and sweeps. He scored 218 and helped the team to an easy win by 10 wickets.

The captain of the touring team Misbah-ul-Haq was also named as one the cricketers of the year by Wisden in 2017. The highlight of Misbah’s tour was the opening Test at Lords where he batted for just over five hours to score 114 and set the stage for a Pakistani victory. In doing so at the age of 42 years and 47 days, he became the oldest player in 82 years to score a Test hundred, and the oldest captain ever to do so.

Pakistan’s latest addition to this list is Mohammad Rizwan who has just been named as one of the five Cricketers of the Year in the 2021 Wisden. He is the first Pakistani wicket-keeper to be accorded this honour. Five consecutive Test fifties against England and New Zealand (including two as captain), a match winning unbeaten century against South Africa along with 16 victims behind the stumps gave Rizwan entry to his elite list.

As an interesting footnote a nineteenth Pakistani had been chosen as a cricketer of the year by Wisden. This was Mohammad Amir in the Wisden of 2011, but following his ban from international cricket his name was withdrawn and that year’s Wisden only had 4 cricketers of the year.

Though fleeting and evanescent is every deed

The written word always treks a different course

Lending immortality to jostling feats

The few that scribes and passing times endorse

Dr Salman Faridi is a senior surgeon, poet, sports aficionado and an avid reader with a private collection of over 7000 books.

salmanfaridilnh@hotmail.com