“I t was more formal than I expected it be,” says Matthew Potts, the morning after the night before when, in front of a packed Long Room at Lord’s, amid dickie bows and evening gowns aplenty, the fast bowler was handed a leather-bound Wisden by Mike Brearley as one of the Almanack’s five cricketers of the year. “You almost can’t believe your luck when a legend like that presents you with it – it was a very special moment,” Potts continues, shortly before leaving London for Cardiff where Durham are playing their third-round fixture against Glamorgan. “I delved into Wisden a few years ago out of curiosity and so I knew a bit about it.
But some of the big names who have been in there in the past … well, it’s a huge privilege to be among them.” The award itself has become an annual source of debate online, with its idiosyncratic criteria – based on performances of influence during the previous English summer and only able to be won once in a career – often lost in the race to reply.
A personal view is this quirkiness is what makes the Wisden five so special, part hall of fame, part conversation starter, and far more interesting than the bog-standard best on show.
Either way, the square-jawed, flinty-eyed Potts had every right to crack a broad smile on Tuesday evening as Brearley shook his hand and offered gentle words of praise.