ACS Overseas First-Class Annual 2011

ready availability of scores on line has undoutedly gone some way to reduce demand for them to appear in print, and it is no coincidence that some many of the familiar overseas annuals, such as Wisden Australia and Indian Cricket , have ceased publication. Yet when the ACS canvassed the opinions of its membership, the view came across clearly that although no one could seriously dispute the value of the internet as a resource for the statistician or historian, printed scores remain very important to many serious followers of the game. Partly this is for the simple reason that virtually all statisticians and researchers mark their scores in some way, either to note some point of interest or simply to record corrections or additional information. Members also commented on the compactness of the ‘parallel’ format of printed scores, which allows full details of a two-innings match to be presented on a single page in a way that brings it within the same field of vision. The point was also made that although the internet works well when studying a single match, a book of scores is much more convenient when consulting large numbers of scores rapidly, for instance to compare the performances of a team or individual player in a sequence of games or throughout a season. Finally, it was argued that a book is a relatively durable product that will retain its information even if it has lain on some neglected shelf for many decades or even centuries, whereas a website exists only so long as someone takes the trouble to maintain it. It is hoped, therefore, that this third edition of the annual will maintain its usefulness to purchasers, even though the harsh economics of producing it mean that the price has had to be increased this year. It remains only for me to express once again my thanks to Pete Griffiths and Philip Bailey for allowing free access to the unique resource of CricketArchive (www.cricketarchive.com ) and for their support in many other ways. Responsibility for any errors or oversights, however, is wholly mine as editor. John Bryant Editor 20 Wilton Square London N1 3DL overseasannual@acscricket.com July 2011 Preface 6