The 139th edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, "the sports book of this and every other year" as The Daily Telegraph recently called it, is published tomorrow. In the Notes by the Editor, which traditionally offer hard-hitting comment on the state of the game, Graeme Wright describes county cricket as "a confederacy of mediocrity" and wonders wther it is a systm worth preserving. The Five Cricketers of the Year include three Australians and no Englishmen. They are Adam Gilchrist, Damien Martyn, Jason Gillespie, VVS Laxman and Andy Flower.

This edition will be of special interest to collectors and cricket lovers as it contains full coverage of the life of Sir Donald Bradman, who died in February 2001 just as the previous Almanack was going to press. The retirement of Mike Atherton is marked with a special article by Peter Roebuck.

Each copy of the Almanack is accompanied by a free mini-paperback, The Best: The 40 Leading Cricketers in the World Today, a selection of pen-portraits from Wisden.com edited by Tim de Lisle.

Visit Wisden.com later today to read extracts from the new Almanack, including the essays on Gilchrist and Laxman. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2002 (hardback and soft cover) is published by John Wisden and Co, price £35. To order a copy through the Penguin website, click here.

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