Sydney Herbert Pardon (23 September 1855 – 20 November 1925) was a sports journalist who was the editor 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 ...

'' for 35 editions, from 1891 until his death. His father was the journalist

George Frederick Pardon George Frederick Pardon (1824–1884) was an English journalist and writer, especially on sports and games, where he used the pseudonym Rawdon Crawley or Captain Crawley. Life Pardon was born in London, educated at a private school, and at the a ...

. He took over the editorship of ''Wisden'' following the death of his brother,

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

. Of all the editors of the publication, he was arguably the greatest. He introduced the "Notes by the Editor" feature in 1901, and did much to get throwing, a major problem in the 1890s, stamped out. L. E. S. Gutteridge wrote of him: "His was a cultured mind. He had definite opinions and was prepared to state them. His editorials make most interesting reading and his influence on the growth of the game throughout the world was immense." In 1892, he introduced a comprehensive obituary section. In 1896, for the first time ''Wisden'' appeared in a cloth-bound (hardback) edition as well as paperback. In 1910 he memorably wrote that the England selectors had "touched the confines of lunacy". In 1924, an issue of ''Wisden'' first passed the one thousand page mark. With his brothers Charles and Edgar, he set up the

Cricket Reporting Agency The Cricket Reporting Agency (CRA) was founded by Charles Pardon and George Kelly King in 1880. Throughout its 85-year existence, the CRA provided the Press Association PA Media (formerly the Press Association) is a multimedia news agency, and ...

in 1880, which provided match reports for

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was est ...

and the

Press Association PA Media (formerly the Press Association) is a multimedia news agency, and the national news agency of the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is part of PA Media Group Limited, a private company with 26 shareholders, most of whom are national and re ...

.''A History of Wisden'' by L. E. S. Gutteridge
/ref> A man of many interests, he was proud to have contributed articles to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' not only on cricket but also on music, the theatre and horse racing. He was also an expert on athletics, rowing, boxing and billiards.

Notes

References

* ''Barclay's World of Cricket – 2nd Edition'', 1980, Collins Publishers, , p. 198.
The Wisden Timeline
1855 births 1925 deaths Cricket historians and writers Editors of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack English male journalists The Times people {{england-cricket-bio-1850s-stub