After a few editions, you know what you're getting with "Wisden Cricketers' Almanack". The 2005 version covers the previous twelve months of cricket, from Test matches and international limited over tournaments, to first-class and List A cricket and onto club cricket, all written in the "Wisden" style.

When I obtain a new "Wisden", I automatically jumped to the end of the book to look at the "Index of unusual occurrences", and see that page 1436 includes a reference to a scorer threatening to arrest the players and that we can look forward to page 887 where we are told that Warwickshire apologised to Somerset for announcers "Wooooooooooh".

Then I jump to the "Chronicle of 2004", and find that Sussex's mascot "Sid the Shark" was leading in the Sport Relief Mascot Derby when he fell over and lost to Sting, the mascot of the Wasps Rugby team. Pleasingly Sid's thoughts on the race are recorded: "I didn't realise I had outsprinted everyone but by the end I was knackered."

Then there's the Obituaries, which, depending on the age of the subject, is either a joyful retelling of their life, or a sombre reflection of a life cut short.

I could go on but you get the drift. "Wisden's" are an essential part of any cricket fan's library. ( )