{{italic title
''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack Australia'' (also known as ''Wisden Australia'') was a
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...
annual and reference book, the Australian version of ''
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...
'', generally known as ''Wisden''. The Australian edition's gestation period was lengthy: the first edition appeared in 1998, when the Preface referred to a March 1981 report in ''
The Australian
''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...
'' announcing the imminent appearance of the Australian edition.
''Wisden Australia'' was published by Hardie Grant Publishing of Melbourne, at or near the beginning of the Australian season, in November or early December. In contrast to the yellow cover of the parent publication ''
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...
'', its cover was predominantly bright green. The last two editions published, those of 2004-05 and 2005–06, emulated the parent by featuring dustjackets with photographs.
The Australian edition was also somewhat slimmer and cheaper, as there were fewer games to report on in Australia; in most other respects the format and content of the Australian edition were similar to those of the English version. One difference was that the former's coverage of first
grade cricket
Grade cricket, also known as Premier Cricket is the name of the senior inter-club or district cricket competitions in each of the Australian states and territories. The term may refer to:
*Victorian Premier Cricket
* NSW Premier Cricket
* Queens ...
in each state and territory was more comprehensive than the latter's relatively sketchy coverage of top level English club and league cricket.
The first two editions, dated 1998 and 1999, covered the 1997–98 and 1998-99 Australian seasons respectively. The numbering changed with the third edition, which adopted the practice of the English almanack by including in its title the date of the season immediately after the season covered. Thus the 2000-01 edition covered the 1999-2000 season, and so on up to the 2005-06 edition, the eighth in the series, published in 2005 which covered the domestic season 2004-05 and the 2005 Ashes tour in England.
No further edition has been published since 2005. The most comprehensive reviews and records of Australian cricket are now to be found online or in the reports of the various state cricket associations. The website of
Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia (CA), formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board (ACB), is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Crick ...
, the national body, does not cover grade cricket in any detail.
See also
*
Wisden Australia's Cricketer of the Year
Each year from 1998 to 2005 '' Wisden Australia'' selected one Australian cricketer as ''Wisden Australia'' Cricketers of the Year. The award recognised that player's contribution to cricket in Australia in the previous season, in a similar manne ...