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John Wisden: Google doodles for the cricketing great

The doodle on Google's homepage today celebrates the 187th birth anniversary of John Wisden.

Wisden was an English cricketer and creator of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, which is often referred to as the 'Bible of cricket'.

The search engine giant used the distinctive front cover font of the cricket reference book against the famous primrose yellow background that has been used on every edition since 1938.

The letter 'L' of the word GOOGLE is replaced with the famous woodcut of two cricketers, by Eric Ravilious, which regularly appeared on covers of the Almanack until 2003.

The cricket reference book has appeared every year, with Wisden 2013 being the 150th edition.

Wisden, known as the best all-rounder in his time, was also referred to as 'The little wonder'.

He was initially a fast round-arm bowler and took nearly 10 wickets every game, on average.

His pace slowed down during his latter years.

The cricketing legend died of cancer, aged 57, in the flat above his Cranbourn Street shop, in London.