Has Wisden chosen wisely?

In a reflection of current Australian dominance, Adam Gilchrist, Damien Martyn and Jason Gillespie have all be chosen.

India's VVS Laxman and former Zimbabwe skipper Andy Flower make up the group.

Wisden, this year in its 139th edition, has usually selected one county star alongside the four best players from the world game.

Is Wisden right to ignore English claims? And is the list an indictment of the English game?

Wisden select a player as cricketer of the year only once in his career. As a consequence the selection is by no means indicative of the best players of the year. This explains why in 2001 Gillespie gets the nod over someone like McGrath or Murali, and Martyn gets selected rather than Tendulkar or Lara. It also explains why, along with many truly great players, Wisden's selections include a number of very mediocre performers.
Daraius Ardeshir, India

Wisden picks the top five in the world, not the best in English cricket and then the world...stop crying losers!
Vishnu Kalra, Canada

Wisden, ironically, is one of the worst judges of cricket in the world despite its inflated reputation. Leaving Muralitharan and Hayden out of the best five players of the year has made Wisden a laughing stock.
Darren Hart, Australia

What's the criteria nowadays for selection? It used to be confined to the English season. Hayden's batting in India was a revelation: 549 at 109.80.

No English players reflects the poor quality of the county structure, and is further condemnation of an archaic system that should be refreshed by amalgamating the counties into a serious six to eight team competition immediately.
Jim Maxwell, Australia

I think this decision reflects modern thinking. 140 years ago the best county players probably were the best players in the world. It's been a long time since that's been true, it just took Wisden a while to bite the bullet and admit it.
Frankie, Aus

It is simply common sense not to include an England player. How county cricketers can expect a mention over international players is beyond me.

The county competition is also a kindergarten compared to Australia's domestic battleground. As for the the top five, line up the next 10 and tell me an England player who deserves to push ahead of McGrath and co.
Anthony, Australia

We can't argue with this- we are simply not producing great cricketers anymore and haven't for the last 20 years. The blame must lie with the antiquated structure, though things may improve once the National Academy system is fully established.
Phil, England

Fair enough saying that England players don't feature in the top five in world cricket, but Wisden has traditionally named the top five players in the last English season. So the five has usually included a few tourists, an England player or two and a county star.

Last year it was Darren Bicknell and Mark Alleyne, who didn't get into the England side but stood out on the county scene. The only other time English players were left out was after the 1999 World Cup, when English fans had seen the stars of world cricket on their doorsteps.

If you want the best five players in the world look at the FICA awards. This should remain the traditional recognition of the best players seen by English fans. Deep breath, back to work.
Mr Angry, UK

Unfortunately, no English player deserves to be on the 2001 roll of honour. But I cannot believe Wisden have omitted Matthew Hayden, the outstanding batsman of the year. After all, he is Australia's player of the year, having scored prolifically all over the world, and, with Justin Langer, forging the best opening partnership I think the world will ever see.
Ed, UK

All those named deserved to be there. Cricket is a global game and priority should be given to international cricketers. There is no one in the England team or the county set- up at the moment who deserves a mention. Flintoff and Hoggard could be major stars of the future but at the moment there is not much to warrant a mention in Wisden.
Nibs, UK

I think Wisden is right. Just because Wisden is published in England does not mean that at least one English player from County cricket has to be included. There is a big difference between Test cricket and County cricket, and an English player can be chosen only if he excels in the highest form of cricket.
Raghu Rishikesh, Chennai, India

Wisden are right not to put any English players in the list. There has been no 'great' English cricketer since Ian Botham. The standard of English cricket is poor and they certainly are a long way behind the top southern hemisphere teams.
Wayne Kennedy, Armagh

Wisden is the bible for the worldwide game, and it's hard to recall an Englishman who deserves to be top five in 2001. The English county structure is outdated and poor quality and Wisden reflects this.
Richard, England