Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World

Don Bradman has won the award the most times, being named as the notional winner ten times between 1930 and 1948.

The Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World is an annual cricket award selected by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. It was established in 2004, to select the best cricketer based upon their performances anywhere in the world in the previous calendar year.^[1] A notional list of previous winners, spanning from 1900 to 2002, was published in the 2007 edition of Wisden.^[2]

Since 1889, Wisden has published a list of Cricketers of the Year, typically selecting five cricketers that had the greatest impact during the previous English cricket season. However, in the 2000 edition, the editor Matthew Engel recognised that the best players in the world were typically no longer playing English domestic cricket, and opted to select the Cricketers of the Year based on their performances anywhere in the world.^[3] This criterion was applied for the following three years, but in 2004 it reverted to being based on the English season, and a Leading Cricketer in the World was also selected.^[1] The recipient of the award is selected by the editor of Wisden, with advice from cricket experts.^[4] An Australian, Ricky Ponting was chosen as the first winner of the award, for scoring 1,503 runs in international cricket, including eleven centuries during 2003.^[5]

In the 2007 edition of Wisden, a list of winners for previous years was published. A sixteen-person panel helped to select the winners, which Engel described as the cricketer that "would have been the first name down in the World XI to play Mars".^[2] It was decided that the first year that would be listed was 1900, as prior to that Engel claimed international cricket was too "inchoate and haphazard to make comparison sensible".^[2] No awards were made for the periods of the World Wars, leaving a list of 93 winners. During this selection, Don Bradman was listed the most, winning on ten occasions, while Garfield Sobers was the leading cricketer eight times. Engel noted that despite attempts to the contrary, the award maintains cricket's bias towards batsmen.^[2]

List of award winners

Actual winners

Kumar Sangakkara was twice recognised by Wisden in 2012, being named a Cricketer of the Year and Leading Cricketer in the World.

• Note that each year's Leading Cricketer of the World is announced in the following year's Wisden, so the 2003 winner was announced in 2004, and so on.

Year	Player[6]	Country
2003	Ponting, RickyRicky Ponting	Australia
2004	Warne, ShaneShane Warne	Australia
2005	Flintoff, AndrewAndrew Flintoff	England
2006	Muralitharan, MuttiahMuttiah Muralitharan	Sri Lanka
2007	Kallis, JacquesJacques Kallis	South Africa
2008	Sehwag, VirenderVirender Sehwag	India
2009	Sehwag, VirenderVirender Sehwag	India
2010	Tendulkar, SachinSachin Tendulkar	India
2011	Sangakkara, KumarKumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka
2012	Clarke, MichaelMichael Clarke	Australia
2013	Steyn, DaleDale Steyn	South Africa
2014	Sangakkara, KumarKumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka
2015	Williamson, KaneKane Williamson	New Zealand

Notional winners

Ranjitsinhji was the first historical winner, being recognised for 1900.

Jack Hobbs is one of only five players to have won the award more than twice.

Harold Larwood was the only non-Australian cricketer to be recognised in the 1930s.

Keith Miller reading Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 1951, his selection year

Garfield Sobers (pictured here in 2012) was the winner eight times between 1958 and 1970.

Viv Richards was recognised in 1976, 1978 and 1980

Imran Khan was the first Pakistani cricketer to be recognised, for 1982.

Year	Player[6]	Country
1900	Ranjitsinhji, K. S.K. S. Ranjitsinhji	England
1901	Fry, C. B.C. B. Fry	England
1902	Trumper, VictorVictor Trumper	Australia
1903	Fry, C. B.C. B. Fry	England
1904	Bosanquet, BernardBernard Bosanquet	England
1905	Jackson, StanleyStanley Jackson	England
1906	Hirst, GeorgeGeorge Hirst	England
1907	Vogler, BertBert Vogler	South Africa
1908	Noble, MontyMonty Noble	Australia
1909	Rhodes, WilfredWilfred Rhodes	England
1910	Faulkner, AubreyAubrey Faulkner	South Africa
1911	Trumper, VictorVictor Trumper	Australia
1912	Barnes, SydneySydney Barnes	England
1913	Barnes, SydneySydney Barnes	England
1914	Hobbs, JackJack Hobbs	England
1915–18	Not awarded due to World War I
1919	Gregory, JackJack Gregory	Australia
1920	Collins, HerbieHerbie Collins	Australia
1921	Macartney, CharlieCharlie Macartney	Australia
1922	Hobbs, JackJack Hobbs	England
1923	Hendren, PatsyPatsy Hendren	England
1924	Tate, MauriceMaurice Tate	England
1925	Hobbs, JackJack Hobbs	England
1926	Macartney, CharlieCharlie Macartney	Australia
1927	Ponsford, BillBill Ponsford	Australia
1928	Freeman, TichTich Freeman	England
1929	Hammond, WallyWally Hammond	England
1930	Bradman, DonDon Bradman	Australia
1931	Bradman, DonDon Bradman	Australia
1932	Bradman, DonDon Bradman	Australia
1933	Larwood, HaroldHarold Larwood	England
1934	Bradman, DonDon Bradman	Australia
1935	McCabe, StanStan McCabe	Australia
1936	Bradman, DonDon Bradman	Australia
1937	Bradman, DonDon Bradman	Australia
1938	Bradman, DonDon Bradman	Australia
1939	Bradman, DonDon Bradman	Australia
1940–45	Not awarded due to World War II
1946	Bradman, DonDon Bradman	Australia
1947	Compton, DenisDenis Compton	England
1948	Bradman, DonDon Bradman	Australia
1949	Hutton, LenLen Hutton	England
1950	Worrell, FrankFrank Worrell	West Indies
1951	Miller, KeithKeith Miller	Australia
1952	Hutton, LenLen Hutton	England
1953	Bedser, AlecAlec Bedser	England
1954	Walcott, ClydeClyde Walcott	West Indies
1955	Tyson, FrankFrank Tyson	England
1956	Laker, JimJim Laker	England
1957	May, PeterPeter May	England
1958	Sobers, GarfieldGarfield Sobers	West Indies
1959	Benaud, RichieRichie Benaud	Australia
1960	Sobers, GarfieldGarfield Sobers	West Indies
1961	Davidson, AlanAlan Davidson	Australia
1962	Sobers, GarfieldGarfield Sobers	West Indies
1963	Trueman, FredFred Trueman	England
1964	Sobers, GarfieldGarfield Sobers	West Indies
1965	Sobers, GarfieldGarfield Sobers	West Indies
1966	Sobers, GarfieldGarfield Sobers	West Indies
1967	Pollock, GraemeGraeme Pollock	South Africa
1968	Sobers, GarfieldGarfield Sobers	West Indies
1969	Pollock, GraemeGraeme Pollock	South Africa
1970	Sobers, GarfieldGarfield Sobers	West Indies
1971	Procter, MikeMike Procter	South Africa
1972	Lillee, DennisDennis Lillee	Australia
1973	Richards, BarryBarry Richards	South Africa
1974	Thomson, JeffJeff Thomson	Australia
1975	Lloyd, CliveClive Lloyd	West Indies
1976	Richards, VivViv Richards	West Indies
1977	Lillee, DennisDennis Lillee	Australia
1978	Richards, VivViv Richards	West Indies
1979	Chappell, GregGreg Chappell	Australia
1980	Richards, VivViv Richards	West Indies
1981	Botham, IanIan Botham	England
1982	Khan, ImranImran Khan	Pakistan
1983	Dev, KapilKapil Dev	India
1984	Garner, JoelJoel Garner	West Indies
1985	Hadlee, RichardRichard Hadlee	New Zealand
1986	Marshall, MalcolmMalcolm Marshall	West Indies
1987	Crowe, MartinMartin Crowe	New Zealand
1988	Marshall, MalcolmMalcolm Marshall	West Indies
1989	Border, AllanAllan Border	Australia
1990	Gooch, GrahamGraham Gooch	England
1991	Ambrose, CurtlyCurtly Ambrose	West Indies
1992	Akram, WasimWasim Akram	Pakistan
1993	Warne, ShaneShane Warne	Australia
1994	Lara, BrianBrian Lara	West Indies
1995	Lara, BrianBrian Lara	West Indies
1996	Jayasuriya, SanathSanath Jayasuriya	Sri Lanka
1997	Warne, ShaneShane Warne	Australia
1998	Tendulkar, SachinSachin Tendulkar	India
1999	Waugh, SteveSteve Waugh	Australia
2000	Muralitharan, MuttiahMuttiah Muralitharan	Sri Lanka
2001	McGrath, GlennGlenn McGrath	Australia
2002	Hayden, MatthewMatthew Hayden	Australia

Multiple winners

Shane Warne was listed twice in the historical list, as well as being recognised for 2004.

Unlike Wisden's Cricketers of the Year, players can be recognised more than once as the Leading Cricketer in the World, and eighteen players have been selected for multiple years.^[6] The majority of these have won the award twice, but five players have been recognised for three or more years: Don Bradman, Garfield Sobers, Jack Hobbs, Viv Richards and Shane Warne. In the 2007 edition which published the notional historical winners, Engel noted with "surprise and pleasure" that these five players were the same as had been selected as Wisden's five Cricketers of the Century.^[2]

Sachin Tendulkar and Warne have both been selected as notional and actual winners, while Virender Sehwag was the first player to be recognised twice by Wisden as an actual winner since 2004.^[6] Kumar Sangakkara has since similarly been selected twice, and in 2012 he became the first player to be recognised twice in one edition of Wisden, as both Leading Cricketer in the World and a Cricketer of the Year.^[7]

Player	Awards	Years
Bradman, DonDon Bradman	10	1930, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1946, 1948
Sobers, GarfieldGarfield Sobers	8	1958, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1970
Hobbs, JackJack Hobbs	3	1914, 1922, 1925
Richards, VivViv Richards	3	1976, 1978, 1980
Warne, ShaneShane Warne	3	1993, 1997, 2004
Barnes, SydneySydney Barnes	2	1912, 1913
Fry, C. B.C. B. Fry	2	1901, 1903
Hutton, LenLen Hutton	2	1949, 1952
Lara, BrianBrian Lara	2	1994, 1995
Lillee, DennisDennis Lillee	2	1972, 1977
Macartney, CharlieCharlie Macartney	2	1921, 1926
Marshall, MalcolmMalcolm Marshall	2	1986, 1988
Muralitharan, MuttiahMuttiah Muralitharan	2	2000, 2006
Pollock, GraemeGraeme Pollock	2	1967, 1969
Sangakkara, KumarKumar Sangakkara	2	2011, 2014
Sehwag, VirenderVirender Sehwag	2	2008, 2009
Tendulkar, SachinSachin Tendulkar	2	1998, 2010
Trumper, VictorVictor Trumper	2	1902, 1911

Winners by country

Awards won by nationality (%)

  Australia – 35 (33.0%)

  England – 28 (26.4%)

  West Indies – 20 (18.9%)

  South Africa – 8 (7.5%)

  India – 5 (4.7%)

  Sri Lanka – 5 (4.7%)

  New Zealand – 3 (2.8%)

  Pakistan – 2 (1.9%)

Cricketers from eight of the ten Test playing nations have been recognised for the award by Wisden, only Bangladesh and Zimbabwe are not represented. Players from Australia and England dominate the list, having won more than half of the time, although this is disproportionately the case in the notional list. Prior to World War II, 34 of the 36 winners played for Australia or England. The "actual" award winners are more evenly distributed; Australian, Indian and Sri Lankan players have won three times, South Africans twice, while only one English player has been recognised since 2004.^[6]

Awards by country

Club	Awards
Australia	35
England	28
West Indies	20
South Africa	8
India	5
Sri Lanka	5
New Zealand	3
Pakistan	2

See also

• Six Giants of the Wisden Century
• Wisden Australia's Cricketer of the Year
• Wisden Cricketers of the Century
• ICC Awards

References

1. Engel, Matthew, ed. (2004). Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2004 (141 ed.). Alton, Hampshire: John Wisden & Co. Ltd. p. 8. ISBN 0-947766-83-9.
2. Engel, Matthew, ed. (2007). Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2007 (144 ed.). Alton, Hampshire: John Wisden & Co. Ltd. pp. 32–41. ISBN 978-1-905625-02-4.
3. Engel, Matthew, ed. (2000). Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2000 (137 ed.). Guildford, Surrey: John Wisden & Co. Ltd. p. 61. ISBN 0-947766-57-X.
4. "Wisden's Leading Cricketer in the World". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN. 2007. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
5. "Ponting named world's leading cricketer". ABC News. Sydney: Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 7 April 2004. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
6. "Leading Cricketer in the World". Bloomsbury. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
7. "Kumar Sangakkara 'Leading Cricketer in the World' for 2011: Wisden". NDTV Sports. New Delhi: NDTV. 11 April 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2015.