Wisden Cricketers' Almanack was first published in 1864, and a new edition has been published every year since then. While limited-edition reprints of every edition of Wisden from 1864 to 1946 have been published over the past few decades, collecting these limited-edition reprints is not cheap as each one has normally been priced between £50 and £100. Now, for the first time, John Wisden & Co is offering a digital version of the 1866 edition, to allow cricket lovers more affordable access to this historic book which forms such a significant part of the game's great heritage.

In essence, The Shorter Wisden is a glass of the finest champagne rather than the whole bottle. The contents remain authoritative, restorative, provocative – addictive, even – and wide-ranging. So readers can skip from the history of the hat-trick to an arresting account of cricketing mannerisms. Or, more soberly, move from the pros and cons of the new T20 league to the ugly thread of sexism running through the game. Add a startlingly original examination of the career of Jimmy Anderson and the influential Notes by the Editor, and there is vintage fare for all. A sparkling line-up includes Gideon Haigh, Tanya Aldred, Mike Selvey, Matthew Engel and Zafar Ansari. Every front-of-book article is here, fizzing with life and vim. You'll come back for more. "There can't really be any doubt about the cricket book of the year, any year: it's obviously Wisden" Andrew Baker in the Daily Telegraph @WisdenAlmanack

The 156th edition of the most famous sports book in the world--published every year since 1864--contains some of the finest sports writing of the year and covers every first-class game in every cricket nation, making it the cricketers' bible worldwide. @WisdenAlmanack

The Shorter Wisden is a compelling distillation of what's best in its bigger brother – and the 2019 edition of Wisden is crammed, as ever, with the best writing in the game. Wisden's digital version includes the influential Notes by the Editor, full coverage of the Pakistan and India tours of England in 2018, and all the front-of-book articles, among which Wisden celebrates the end of Alastair Cook's career, and looks back 100 years to cricket's first post-war season. In an age of snap judgments, Wisden's authority and integrity are more important than ever. Yet again this year's edition is truly a “must-have” for every cricket fan. In essence, The Shorter Wisden is a glass of the finest champagne rather than the whole bottle. @WisdenAlmanack

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack was first published in 1864, and a new edition has been published every year since then. While limited-edition reprints of every edition of Wisden from 1864 to 1946 have been published over the past few decades, collecting these limited-edition reprints is not cheap as each one has normally been priced between £50 and £100. Now, for the first time, John Wisden & Co is offering a digital version of the 1866 edition, to allow cricket lovers more affordable access to this historic book which forms such a significant part of the game's great heritage.