Over the years, The Wisden Guide to International Cricket 2013 has become the essential companion for every cricket enthusiast ahead of a packed international season and the ideal complement to the long-standing Spring bestseller Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.

The above publication has included almost every player expected to play in a Test match in 2013. Apart from the 200 players, with each receiving a full page with a photograph and the facts and figures of their career, the pages have also been devoted to the leading non-Test-playing nations and the international umpires, referees and coaches, as well as an easy-to-read, quick-reference records section.

While profiling Sachin Tendulkar, Steven Lynch has remarked: "You only have to attend a one-dayer at the Wankhede Stadium, and watch the lights flicker and the floor tremble as the applause echoes around the ground when he comes in, to realise what Sachin Tendulkar means to Mumbai...and India. Age, and niggling injuries, may have dimmed the light a little - he's now more of an accumulator than an artist - but he is still light-footed with bat in hand, the nearest thing to Bradman, as The Don himself recognised."

In Monty Panesar's Facts' section, Lynch says he was the first Sikh to play Test cricket for anyone other than India. The first three games for Morne Morkel in ODIs, according to the writer, were for the Africa XI: in one he opened the bowling wth his brother Albie, the first instance of siblings sharing the new ball in an ODI since Kenya's Martin and Tony Suji during the 1999 World Cup.

The Wisden Guide to International Cricket 2013 is invariably worth having and Steven Lynch is to be congratulated on another good year's work. Quite reasonably priced, and pleasingly designed, this fascinating collection has been attractively presented by both compiler and publisher.

The text is lively and interesting throughout and not over-statistical. This publication has earned many friends over the years and will assuredly continue to do so. This year's cover has been the most impressive.