Andrew Flintoff has been named among the prestigious five cricketers of the year in the new Wisden Almanack. He was included in the traditional list of five players in the 141st edition of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, published on Thursday.
He was rewarded for his batting in the summer drawn series with South Africa.
South African duo Graeme Smith and Gary Kirsten, Australian all-rounder Ian Harvey of Australia and Sussex captain Chris Adams complete the list.
Along with Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick, Flintoff also appears in a new section in this year's yellow book, which highlights the 40 leading players in the world ,based on their form in 2003.
Australian captain Ricky Ponting is the first Leading Cricketer in the World and heads a list which includes 13 other Australians.
Unlike the five cricketers of the year, the leading player in the world title can be won more than once.
Also in the top 40 are seven South Africans, five Indians, four Pakistanis, three Englishmen, three Sri Lankans, two New Zealanders and one each from West Indies (Brian Lara) and Zimbabwe (Heath Streak).
Ponting shares Wisden's cover with Steve Waugh, his predecessor as Australian captain, following last year's break with tradition when the Almanack included a picture on the front for the first time.
Wisden's top 40: M Bevan, A Bichel, M Boucher, R Dravid, S Fleming, A Flintoff, H Gibbs, A Gilchrist, J Gillespie, M Hayden, Inzamam-ul-Haq, J Kallis, M Kasprowicz, G Kirsten, A Kumble, J Langer, B Lara, VVS Laxman, B Lee, D Lehmann, S MacGill, G McGrath, D Martyn, M Muralitharan, Mushtaq Ahmed, M Ntini, S Pollock, R Ponting, M Richardson, K Sangakkara, V Sehwag, Shoaib Akhtar, G Smith, H Streak, S Tendulkar, M Trescothick, C Vaas, M Vaughan, S Waugh, Y Youhana.
MMIX
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