Wisden drops Pakistan player from cricketers of the year

The Wisden Cricketers' Almanack has broken with tradition and named only four cricketers of the year for its 2011 edition because of the Pakistan spot-fixing scandal, editor Scyld Berry said on Friday.

The publication has named five players since 1926 but this year only Bangladesh's Tamim Iqbal and England's Eoin Morgan, Chris Read and Jonathan Trott made the shortened list.

Three Pakistan players Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt were banned for a minimum of five years each for manipulating incidents in last year's Lord's Test against England.

Fast bowler Amir, who was named Pakistan's player of the series against England, has been widely reported by British media to be the name omitted from the prestigious list.

"The fifth Cricketer of the Year, I can reveal, was going to be one of three Pakistan players - Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir - until they were banned by the ICC's independent tribunal for the bowling of deliberate no-balls in the fourth Test at Lord's," Berry said in a column in The Telegraph newspaper.

"Which one of the three was selected? I am not going to say because it would not be in keeping with cricket's tradition of fairness."

The Wisden Cricketers of the Year dates back to 1889 and is bestowed upon players who made the biggest impact during the previous English summer.