Essential reading

Okay, so it costs $50, is already out of date and most of what is contained within can be gleaned from the internet anyway - but the 2004 New Zealand Cricket Almanack is still required reading. Why? Because there is something reassuring solid about facts when they are printed on paper. Somehow Mark Richardson's batting average of 47.94 feels more real just because it appears in the Almanack. It is history now. He might score 20 ducks in his next 20 innings, but the Almanack will still show that at the start of the 2004 season he still had a better average than Martin Crowe, Andrew Jones, Bert Sutcliffe and Glenn Turner.

And remember, you cannot lie in bed flicking through Cricinfo.com.

For the record, the Almanack's players of the year are Stephen Fleming and Chris Martin while the promising players are Michael Papps, Brendon McCullum and Peter Fulton. Lets hope this year's crop of tyros prove more successful than the promising players selected ten years ago (Roydon Hayes, Blair Pocock and A.T. Reinholds).

You might raise an eyebrow at Martin's choice as a player of the year. But, despite the appalling England tour, the Almanack tells me that he still took 24 test wickets at 25.58 in a season when Darryl Tuffey could only manage 19 at 41.84, Jacob Oram 16 at 46.25 and Daniel Vettori 16 at 75.93.

Okay. I am going to stop finding interesting figures in the Almanack now. I am going to put it down and do something useful. Although, first I might just quickly look up Martin's career bowling average. And Darryl Tuffey's record in domestic cricket last season. And Dan Vettori's bowling average since he returned from injury...