Wisden Cricketer of the Year

The 143rd edition Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack has been released and with its launch comes the announcement of this year’s Wisden Cricketer of the Year, Andrew Flintoff.

Flintoff was England’s star in the Ashes and was absolutely crucial in the first series win over Australia in more than a decade. In the seven home tests in 2005, Flintoff scored 402 runs at an average of 40.20, and took 33 wickets at just 24.03 runs per wicket.

His main challenger to the honour was Shane Warne, who also had an excellent Ashes series and broke the record for most wickets in a calendar year with 96.

Both were absent from Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year, having won that honour earlier in their careers. 2005’s Five Cricketers of the Year were Matthew Hoggard, Simon Jones, Kevin Pietersen, Brett Lee and Ricky Ponting.

You can purchase the 2006 Wisden, by clicking the image below.