Wisden, cricket elitism and football punditry | Letters

No pupil from a non-fee-paying school has ever received the Wisden schools cricketer of the year award, writes Dan Ayliffe. And Edward Binks says football pundits could learn a lot from their cricket counterpartsAnother year, another Wisden schools cricketer of the year gong awarded to a student from a private school. No pupil from a non-fee-paying school has ever been given the Wisden award since its inception in 2008. Last year, I wrote to Wisden to share my concern that the award and the almanack’s inability to identify kids from the state system worthy of such recognition was symptomatic of cricket’s exclusivity. I suggested a more appropriate name for the award might be the “Wisden (independent) schools cricketer of the year”.And so I was dismayed to read in your article Lawrence Booth, Wisden’s editor, bemoaning India’s dominance of the men’s game (Wisden calls World Test Championship a ‘shambles’ and makes case for reform, 21 April). In repeating his criticism of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, while ignoring precisely the same issue in the UK and how more money corresponds to more opportunities in cricket, the article lacked balance.Dan AyliffeLondon Continue reading...

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