The West Indies Cricket Annual was a cricket annual published from 1970 to 1991 which covered cricket in the West Indies and by West Indian teams overseas. It was the first annual to cover all aspects of West Indies cricket in detail. All 22 editions were edited by Tony Cozier.
Contents
It was generally A4 size although the height varied a little over the years. Most editions were 88 pages although this varied from 84 to 96 pages. The exception was the 1972 edition which had only 68 pages.
From 1978 to 1982 and from 1984 to 1991 the publication was called The Benson & Hedges West Indies Cricket Annual.
It was succeeded by the Caribbean Cricket Quarterly.
Typical contents
The content varied somewhat over the years but the typical contents are given below. A particular feature of the annual was the good coverage of West Indies cricket at below first-class level.
The Annual never included a records section.
Five cricketers of the year
Each year five cricketers of the year were chosen based on performances in the West Indies and on West Indies tours overseas. The annual included a biography of the selections. Until 1981 a player was only chosen once (like the Wisden Cricketers of the Year) but in that year Viv Richards was chosen for the second time and from 1983 the selection was made solely on merit. In 1987 only four players were chosen.
Who's Who
From the 1973 edition a "West Indies Cricket Who's Who" was included. This included players who had represented the West Indies or one of the Territorial teams. Those who had only played in the Beaumont Cup (Texaco Cup) on Trinidad or the Jones Cup in Guyana were not included in the "Who's Who" even when these matches were first-class. Career figures were included in the "Who's Who".
Obituaries
Initially the annual just contained occasional obituaries. The 1971 edition contained one of Learie Constantine and the 1972 edition one of Manny Martindale. There were 3 obituaries in the 1973 edition (Eric Inniss, Augustus Gregoire and Kenny Wishart) and none in the 1974 edition. From the 1975 edition the obituary section became a regular feature which gradually expanded over the years.