Wisden have announced their Five Cricketers of the Year. They are Martin Bicknell, Mark Alleyne, Andrew Caddick, Darren Lehmann and Justin Langer.

"Influence on the English season" was the primary consideration, but an increased "global view" was also taken into account.

Andrew Caddick has established himself as one of the finest English bowlers to emerge in a generation. Battling back from a painful, and career-threatening injury, Caddick resumed devastating service for Somerset, and was finally welcomed back into the fold by the Hussain-Fletcher regime, developing into the Test and one-day bowler he always threatened he could be.

He led the English attack in South Africa, culminating in 7/46 on a flat Durban pitch, and proved his worth as a team player with miserly and unselfish performances on the unforgiving tracks in Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

It was Caddick's bowling that turned around England's fortunes in the 2000 summer. At Lord's, as the West Indies seemed set to take a 2-0 series lead, his 5/16 was instrumental in dismissing them for 54. Four wickets in an over and figures of 5/14 at Leeds followed, as Caddick's opening partnership with Gough became the crucial ingredient in England's long-awaited resurgence.

Justin Langer averaged 61.33 for Middlesex in 2000. His five centuries and seven half-centuries came in a torrid season for the club, with only his 213* out of 387 against Glamorgan in the final match, keeping them off the foot of the second division of the championship.

It was Langer who stepped in when Ramprakash decided that captaincy was a distraction his batting could do without, and it was Langer who so often played a lone, defiant role amid Middlesex's regular batting disasters. When Ramprakash returned to county duty he resumed heavy scoring, but it was Langer who nurtured the young side he inherited.

Apart from contributions from this pair, Middlesex players scored only two other first-class centuries. For a man from Australia, not used to losing, to take on the responsibility for a young and under-performing side, showed great strength of character

Langer remains a fixture in the Australian Test team, and looks a future Test captain, though his exclusion from the one-day team may count against him. After four Test centuries for Australia, Steve Waugh praised him as being "at the moment the best batsman in the world" in April 2000.

Alleyne has led a Gloucestershire side that lacks many obvious "star" names to unprecedented success in one-day cricket. Building on the two trophies they won in 1999, in 2000 they took all three one-day titles, often beating teams packed with Test players. Inspiring loyalty, selflessness and dedication to the team cause, Alleyne has achieved the ultimate for a captain: developing his team into a unit worth more than the sum of their parts.

He has also brought his leadership skills to bear on the England A team, as well as being the ultimate utility player in the England one-day squad; opening or middle-order batsman, medium pace bowler and wicket-keeper. He has been a good enough performer at international level to win a man of the match award, in March 2000 against South Africa.

Darren Lehmann won the Pura Milk Cup Player of the Season award in March 2000 after 995 runs from nine games, including six centuries, so he started the season with Yorkshire in good form. On the seam-friendly English pitches, he accrued nearly 1,500 runs at an average close to 70 for the White Rose club, nearly 800 more runs than anyone else at Yorkshire. A regular in Australia's one-day team, he has struggled for Test opportunities, but his hard-hitting left-handed batting remains dominant at every other level.

Bicknell has been one of the most consistent bowlers in first-class cricket for many years. During the 2000 season he took 60 first-class wickets at 17.53 including match figures of 16/119 (the best in England since 1956) and weighed in with the bat, adding 500 runs at 31.25 to bolster Surrey's championship challenge. Unlucky to have played just two Tests, Bicknell has suffered from particularly bad luck in the timing of his injuries and, later, the selectors' understandable desire to invest in youth. Now, at 32, he remains an example on the county circuit, where his qualities of consistency, control and command of seam and swing reliably place him near the top of the first-class averages.

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