Cricketer of the year

With the imminent release of a new Wisden comes the usual launch guff and the unveiling of the editor's five cricketers of the year. Mark Boucher gets a long overdue nod, seeing as he's the world's pre-eminent keeper these days and how South Africa will miss him when he finally hangs up the gloves, even giving the general brilliance of AB de Villiers. Boucher's Test team-mate Neil McKenzie also gets in thanks to his outstanding English season and Jimmy Anderson - who has had a less erratic season than is the norm for the still-young quick - and Dale Benkenstein who has led Durham with distinction.

But all eyes are on the fifth and rightly so. Claire Taylor is the best female cricketer there is and led England to World Cup glory, something that looks like being beyond the capability of the menfolk for many, many years. She'll lead her side into the Ashes with far more chance of a win than the men and she's been on top of her game for a long while now. It's just a shame that, at 33, she's not been recognised before. The award was announced to Taylor before christmas, so the World Cup win wasn't a factor in Scyld Berry's thinking, a fact which helps kibosh any thought of tokenism. Moreover, and in the wider sporting context, the exploits of the women in Australia, and Taylor in particular, have put women's sport in the spotlight. It's all a long way from when they were still playing in those bloody horrible mini-skirts back in the day of Rachel Heyhoe-Flint. Hopefully this award and everything that preceded it will further attract the attentions of the media and give the opportunity for female cricketers to properly shine.