England were wrong to omit Phil Tufnell from their tour of Australia, according to some of the games most informed supporters readers of Wisden Cricket Monthly.
Asked to name their Test team, 47 per cent of WCM readers named Tufnell as their spinner. Robert Croft, preferred to the Middlesex maverick for the Ashes tour, polled 32 per cent, while Peter Such, also in the tour party, received a vote of no confidence with only 3 per cent. Tufnell, who took 11 wickets in the last Ashes Test only 15 months ago, has been ignored by England since Alec Stewart became captain, although he has been put on stand-by for the tour.
The Readers Poll, published today (Friday) in Wisden Cricket Monthly's December issue, attracted a record turnout of 1326 readers, who expressed strong opinions on a wide range of subjects. Among the highlights:
Biggest-ever poll names Fraser as ``Player of Season''
England star Angus Fraser is the Player of the Season, pipping John Crawley by just 12 votes out of 1326. Mike Atherton is third and Alec Stewart fourth. Fraser, who took 24 wickets as England came from behind to beat South Africa, said: Im honoured to have been recognised by the cricket-watchers of England after a personally hugely satisfying summer. Fraser also won the Bowler of the Season award, just ahead of Courtney Walsh. And following his innings of 0 not out at Old Trafford, which helped keep England in the series, he even received two votes as Batsman of the Season the same as England selector and Middlesex colleague Mike Gatting.
Crawley is ``Batsman of Season''
John Crawley of Lancashire is Batsman of the Season by a wide margin 548 votes to Mike Athertons 143 despite being selected for only one of last summers six Tests, as a late replacement. And 66 per cent of readers said he should be in the first-choice Test team.
Consolation for Boycott
Geoff Boycott receives a timely vote of confidence in fact two. He is third in the poll for Commentator of the Season, the same place as last year, despite being absent from the BBC team for half the season on account of his court case. And he is sixth in the poll for Favourite Player of the Past.
Votes were cast in September and October before Boycott lost his appeal, but after his conviction. There is no sign that people think he should lose his livelihood along with his reputation, said WCM editor Tim de Lisle. Is it possible that The Sun has over-reacted?
Botham still top
Ian Botham wins the Favourite Player of the Past Award for the third year running. He won 266 votes, way ahead of the next man (David Gower with 85). Third was Viv Richards with 49. Most of our readers are aged 25 to 44, said WCM editor Tim de Lisle, so Botham was a colossal figure as they were growing up. Clearly he still means a lot to them. A knighthood cannot be far off.
Benaud takes a hat-trick
Richie Benaud, recently snapped up by Channel 4, is Commentator of the Season for the third year running. At 68, Benaud shows no sign of losing popularity. He won 396 votes, Jonathan Agnew of BBC Radio got 210, and third was Boycott with 66.
Atherton is our favourite player
Mike Atherton is named as Favourite Current Player, confirming his return to form and favour after he resigned as England captain in March. He received 96 votes, and saw off four England colleagues Graeme Hick with 81, Darren Gough 77, Alec Stewart 73 and Graham Thorpe (last years winner) 49.
Told of the award, Atherton chuckled ruefully and said, People are fickle! But its nice to be appreciated at the moment.
Atherton should also be in the England one-day team, according to supporters. Atherton has played in only one of Englands 12 one-day internationals this year but 49 per cent of readers named him in their team only five players received more votes. Ive plenty of one-day ambitions, Atherton said. Im really keen to play in the World Cup.
Stewart joins Atherton in World XI
The readers World XI contains two Englishmen, with the new captain Alec Stewart joining the old one, Atherton. As wicketkeeper, Stewart kept out Ian Healy by 58 per cent of the vote to 39. The team contains three Australians, three Sri Lankans, a West Indian, an Indian and a South African - Allan Donald who received the highest number of votes (84 per cent). Full team in batting order: S Jayasuriya, M Atherton, B Lara, A Stewart (wkt), S Tendulkar, A de Silva, S Waugh (capt), S Warne, M Muralitharan, A Donald, G McGrath.
England wont win World Cup
England, the hosts, will not win the 1999 World Cup South Africa will, according to WCM readers. The South Africans were tipped by 28 per cent, just edging out Sri Lanka with 27 per cent. Australia were third with 20 per cent, and England were fourth with 17 per cent.
Massive support for Test World Championship
The proposed World Championship of Test cricket has the overwhelming support of the fans. 81 per cent say they are in favour of the idea, which has been championed by Wisden since 1996, and more than half of those (45 per cent) say they like it a lot.
Guess who is ``Top Fielder''
South Africas Jonty Rhodes is named Fielder of the Season by an astonishing margin. He received 837 votes, compared to 47 for the next man, Mark Ramprakash of England. Two readers simply wrote: Guess Who?
Full list of Individual Awards
Player of the Season: Angus Fraser (Middlesex and England)
Batsman of the Season: John Crawley (Lancs and England)
Bowler of the Season: Angus Fraser
Allrounder of the Season: Vince Wells (Leics)
Fielder of the Season: Jonty Rhodes (RSA)
Wicketkeeper of the Season: Warren Hegg (Lancs and England tourist)
Team of the Season: Lancashire
Performance of the Season: Muttiah Muralitharan, 16 wickets in Oval Test
Coach of the Season: Dav Whatmore (Lancs)
Umpire of the Season: David Shepherd (England)
Commentator of the Season: Richie Benaud
Cricket Writer of the Season: Christopher Martin-Jenkins, The Daily
Telegraph
Favourite Current Player: Mike Atherton (Lancs and England)
Favourite Player of the Past: Ian Botham (Somerset, Worcs, Durham and
England)
For further details, please contact:
Tim de Lisle on 0171 619 0014 or
Simon Briggs on 0171 565 3111.