IN THE reassuringly familiar world of Wisden, perhaps the most famous of sports annuals, the news that the publisher is planning an alternative format for the cricketers’ bible would be tantamount to treason.

When the late Robert Maxwell even hinted at the prospect at a launch dinner in the early 1980s, the shock waves through the cricket-watching fraternity were enough to cause the owners — then Gray’s of Cambridge — to withdraw his publishing licence.

But the present owners — the Getty family — are not proposing to do away with the beloved chunky, yellow book that has adorned study shelves since 1864. They are merely planning an additional, super-sized format for followers who find the small, detailed type of the traditional book difficult to read.

The 2006 limited edition, which will be about 40 per cent bigger than the original but will share exactly the same design, will have a print run of 5,000 numbered copies — each in a slip case — and cost £50 instead of £38. It will be published in April along with the traditional format, which has been used for all of its previous 142 editions.

“We are definitely not canning the traditional format but a number of readers — largely the older ones — have said they find it hard to read,” Chris Lane, Wisden’s managing director, said. “We are not trying to wean people off any traditions and are making no long-term plans. If people say they like it, I have little doubt we’ll do it again.”

John Paul Getty, the late American billionaire, bought Wisden 16 years ago. Since his son, Mark, became chairman in 2003, the almanack has undergone changes including adding a photograph on its cover.

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