1962

The 1962 edition, the first to break the pound barrier, carried a "strong Australian flavour", following the Ashes the previous summer, and West Indies' 1960-61 tour of Australia, that included the Tied Test. Four of the Five Cricketers of the Year were Australian, and Jack Fingleton, a former wearer of the Baggy Green himself, wrote on an "Enjoyable visit to Britain". Non-Australian features included one by Gubby Allen on his time as chairman of England's selectors, and an appreciation of Brian Statham and Frank Trueman, who both retired. JM Kilburn, the correspondent of the Yorkshire Post, opened up with "Happy the country with no history may be debatable as a political aphorism, but happy the cricketing country with high-class fast bowling is self-evident truth". Percy Chapman, the former England captain, died.
Editor Norman Preston
Pages 1063
Price 20 shillings

Almanack essays

Notes by the Editor

The true spirit of cricket, 1962