A former editor of The Wisden Cricketer magazine, John Stern writes on cricket for, among others, The Times and All Out Cricket magazine. He is the author of Cricket: The Definitive Guide to the International Game and co-author of Wisden's Youth Cricket Coaching.

Marcus Williams was a senior member of The Times sports department for more than 30 years. He also edited The Way to Lord's and Double Century: 200 Years of Cricket in The Times, and co-wrote The Wisden Book of Cricket Memorabilia.

The 150 editions of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack have been covered in The Essential Wisden, containing more than 1,33,000 pages of superb reading. The book provides the highlights of all 150 years for the first time. From the forthright Editor's Notes by the likes of Sydney Pardon, Norman Preston, John Woodcock and Matthew Engel, through reports on key matches around the world, and features on the game's top players, to the renowned obituaries of people in and around the game, and a range of cricket's idiosyncratic "Unusual Occurrences".

Cricket enthusiasts would love to go through the first editorial, published in Wisden 1864: "In offering our first edition of the Cricketer's Almanack to the patrons of the "Noble Game," we have taken great pains to collect a certain amount of information, which we trust will prove interesting to all those that take pleasure in this glorious pastime. Should the present work meet with but moderate success, it is intended next year to present our readers with a variety of other matches, which the confined nature of an Almanack precludes us from doing this year."

An outstanding publication, the only one of its kind, the writers distil the Almanack's most significant and fascinating writings into one anthology.

The Book commences with the chapters, Notes by the Editors, Cricketers and Feature articles followed by England, Other countries, World Cup, Counties, Extras (other matches), Obituaries, Records and Unusual Occurrences.

The writers remark in the Foreword: "The title of the book reflects that what we have produced is the essence of Wisden, the edited - and abridged - highlights of an annual which has moved from modest beginnings to become the foremost sporting publication of its type, filled with comment and good writing to accompany its primary task of recording the major cricketing happenings of the preceding year and the game's primary records.

On a chapter on India, the book has commented: "The last 30 years, since India's nation-changing World Cup win at Lord's in 1983, has brought increased quantity and quality of coverage in Wisden. India now boasts some of the finest writers on cricket in the world, many mentored by Sambit Bal, the global editor of ESPNcricinfo, and they have all been showcased in the pages of the Almanack. In 2013 Wisden launched an Indian edition."

John Wisden & Co., an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, John Stern and Marcus Williams have done an outstanding job in bringing out The Essential Wisden. An indispensable companion, the book is a must for every cricket enthusiast.

The Essential Wisden is a massive source of reference, worth its weight in gold.