The 55th New Zealand Cricket Almanack (2002 edition) by Francis Payne and Ian Smith. Published by Hodder Moa Beckett in association with SKY Television.

Summer can start whenever it likes now.

The 2002 New Zealand Cricket Almanack is out and, as ever, its arrival provides the bridge between seasons.

In this case it is an especially welcome tome of 496 pages which records the dazzling feats of Nathan Astle last summer, and no surprises there with his selection as the Almanack's batsman of the year, the Test wins over England and the West Indies and the outstanding summer in Australia.

Editors Francis Payne and Ian Smith have got right into the innards of the game in New Zealand and extracted every known statistic of relevance and incorporated it into another decidedly useful reference.

Take for instance the material on Astle's performances. While everyone recognised his 222 for what it was, simply breath-taking, the soothsayers could have made plenty out of the fact it gave him a best score in Tests of 222 to go alongside his best bowling figures in Tests of two for 22. Now that is freaky.

During THAT innings he also achieved the distinction of being the first Test player in the world to share two 100-run partnerships for the 10th wicket when adding 118 with the injured Chris Cairns. The first was also in a first Test against England, but at Eden Park in 1996/97, when he and Danny Morrison held out for a draw.

New Zealand and England are the only two sides to have recorded four 100-run partnerships for the last wicket in Test matches, the best of which was 151 between Brian Hastings and Richard Collinge in 1973 against Pakistan and which remains as an equal share of a world record stand.

Meanwhile, Astle's one-day batting feats were similarly impressive but there is a disquieting aspect to them in that he tends to be a home town player who averages 48.51 at home and 27.14 away. Century-making isn't such a problem, they are shared at six each home and away but it is one statistic that New Zealand could do with seeing improved during the World Cup in South Africa.

Nor was it surprising that Shane Bond should be named as the bowler of the year. He swept onto the scene in such outstanding fashion that he could not be ignored.

Players named as promising by the Almanack were: Ian Butler, Wade Cornelius and Rob Nicol.

Among other interesting material is the news that Stephen Fleming's stature as a captain continues to grow. He has now played 122 matches as captain in One-Day Internationals, which places him only behind Arjuna Ranatunga (193), Allan Border (178), Mohammad Azharuddin (173), Imran Khan (139) and Hansie Cronje (138) on the all-time list.

With so many ODIs on the programme this year he is well placed to slip into fourth on the list by the end of the tour to Sri Lanka.

However, that same programme could mean that he faces a much longer wait before he can break into the 10,000 first-class runs club. He is sitting on 9438 at the moment, at an average of 41.39, but could struggle for opportunities to score the 562 runs required to reach the mark this summer.

The Almanack also sadly reflects the times with a point that is pertinent in the industrial discussions going on in the game at the moment.

It has to be wondered in the last 50 years if there has ever been such a lack of experience among the first-class ranks.

There are only six players in the first-class programme who have played more than 50 matches for their provinces. Matthew Hart (73), Robbie Hart (71) and Michael Parlane (56) give Northern Districts a decided advantage in this regard.

Canterbury has Chris Harris with 54 matches, and Otago has Robbie Lawson with 53 and Chris Gaffaney with 50 and that is it!

Auckland, Central Districts and Wellington have none.

It would seem the longer term batting and bowling statistics for each association are in for a lengthy stay. Admittedly, some are affected by moving provinces, but it is a reflection of just how young the first-class scene has become. And that has to be a concern.

But what isn't a problem is the quality of the Almanack. It is a superb record of what was an outstanding summer, just as we've come to expect of its editors.

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