About The Nightwatchman

Cricket’s past is steeped in a tradition of great writing and Wisden is making sure its future will be too. The Nightwatchman is a quarterly collection of essays and long-form articles which debuted in March 2013 and is available in book and e-book formats. 43 standard issues (and several special editions) are on sale now, running to 140 pages each of print that’s packed with quality writing. Issue 43 was published in September 2023.

The Nightwatchman features an array of authors from around the world, writing beautifully and at length about the game and its myriad offshoots. Contributors are given free rein over subject matter and length, escaping the pressures of next day deadlines and the despair of cramming heart and soul into a few paragraphs.

Contributors so far include Dileep Premachandran, David Foot, Gideon Haigh, James Holland, Patrick Neate, Alex Massie, Anjali Doshi, Rahul Bhattacharya, John Crace, David Tossell, Aakash Chopra, Mark Rice-Oxley, Jonathan Wilson, Anand Vasu, Andy Zaltzman, Marcus Berkmann, Osman Samiuddin, Tom Holland, Isa Guha, Jon Hotten, Robert Winder, David Frith, Amol Rajan, Jarrod Kimber, Tanya Aldred, Matthew Engel, Ed Smith, Charlie Connelly, Daniel Harris, Patrick Kidd, Martin Crowe, Mike Marqusee, Tony Cozier, Jonathan Liew, Ivo Tennant, Alison Mitchell, Geoff Lemon, Alec Swann, Anthony McGowan, Nathan Leamon, The Rt Hon Sir John Major KG CH, Prof. Tim Noakes, S Rajesh, Hassan Cheema, Lawrence Booth, Sean Ingle, Firdose Moonda, Patrick Murphy, Peter Oborne, Dan Norcross, Mike Selvey, Simon Barnes, Michael Holding and many more.

But is it really any good you ask? The Guardian, via their acclaimed cricket column, The Spin, says so right here. The Independent seems to agree here. And these folk also love it:

“The Nightwatchman is a triumph. Left-field, laugh-out-loud funny and highly intelligent. A gem.” Ed Smith

“Refreshing and original. It looks beautiful and contains great writing about the greatest of games.” Sir Tim Rice

“The Nightwatchman is superb in both content and design. It’s a big boost for serious (but not solemn) cricket-writing.” Mike Marqusee

“In an age of instant comment, it’s heartening to hear it for elegant, witty, long-form cricket prose.” Lawrence Booth, Wisden Almanack editor

You can buy every issue of The Nightwatchman from our shop, but if you’d prefer to pick it up in person, you can search for your nearest stockist here