Moving Picture That Needs No Soundtrack

Adam Collins on the groundbreaking decision to put a woman on the front cover of Wisden for the first time

- Adam Collins

When in 2003 the Wisden Cricketers’Almanack first puta photograph on the front cover, it wasn’t universally welcomed. As long-term editor Matthew Engel recalled a decade later, many saw the move as an “act of sacrilege”. The sport’s bible has a knack for prompting strong opinions.

But an “easy” decision for the current makers of cricket’s good book to land, according to editor Lawrence Booth, was putting Somerset seamer Anya Shrubsole on this year’s cover – the first woman to be recognised in such a way.

The 26-year-old was literally matchwinning in the 2017 World Cup final, her spell of 5-11 in 19 balls claimed when India required 39 with seven wickets in hand. Shrubsole finished with figures of 6-46 and England held the trophy aloft for the first time since 2009 in front of a capacity Lord’s following the stunning triumph.

When picking a moment of 2017 to feature, Booth told The Cricket Paper there was never much doubt about the image the famous yellow jacket would carry after that pulsating July afternoon.

“Wisden is fundamentally an English book and we do focus on the home summer,” he explained. “So when you have got someone who has just produced the best figures in a World Cup final by a man or a woman she suddenly shot to the top of the pack. The World Cup was a momentous occasion for the women’s game and therefore for all cricket.”