Steven Lynch, Deputy Editor, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket statistician of international repute. He has competently brought out the latest edition of the Wisden Guide to international cricket. Now in its fifth year, this excellent publication contains crisp profiles of every batsman playing at present and expected to appear in a Test match or the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

The Wisden Guide to International Cricket 2011 has the detail of 200 players. Each player has been given a full-page, including a photograph and the facts and figures of his career. The coaches of the Test-playing countries are also profiled, along with umpires and referees.

Jacques Kallis has been profiled as: "In an era of fast scoring and high-octane entertainment, Jacques Kallis is a throwback - an astonishingly effective one - to a more sedate age, when your wicket was to be guarded with your life, and runs were an accidental by-product of crease-occupation. He blossomed after a quiet start into arguably the world's leading batsman, with the adhesive qualities of a Cape Point limpet."

Peter Siddle, according to Steven Lynch, is one of the most dangerous fast bowlers in Australia.

Steven considers Abraham de Villiers "a batsman of breathtaking chutzpah and enterprise, as well as the skills and the temperament required to back up his ceative intent".

The Wisden Guide to International Cricket 2011 has given sufficient space to the non-Test playing countries e.g. Afghanistan, Canada, Kenya, Ireland, The Netherlands, Scotland and Zimbabwe.

The readers would find answers to a few interesting questions like Which Test player's father was an Olympic swimmer? Which England batsman was born on Christmas Day? Who runs up to bowl "as if carrying a crate of milk bottles'?

Besides the above features, there is a quick-reference section of records, covering Tests, One Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals apart from a handy guide to the coming year's international fixtures.

Steven Lynch deserves full credit for bringing out this magnificent publication. One of the many strengths of the book is the players' profiles section. Highly recommended. This is the only publication which informs you how the players play as well as what they have achieved.

The Wisden guide to International Cricket 2011 is the ideal complement to the long-standing spring bestsellers Wisden and Playfair and fills a gap left by these publications by providing detailed profiles of every player.

The book would be suitable for younger readers as well as for journalists and commentators. An indispensable book for cricket enthusiasts, it is also excellent value for money.