article: Wisden, the cricket bible, has launched a stinging attack on English cricket and says that the national team have lost touch with the game's public. Editor Lawrence Booth, also a respected cricket writer with Sportsmail, uses his notes to take England to task after a tumultuous year spent trying to recover from the bitter fall-out of losing the last Ashes series 5-0. English cricket, says Booth in the 152nd edition of the fabled Almanack, which is published on Wednesday, 'repeatedly lost touch with the basic idea that the national team belongs to us all'. Wisden editor Lawrence Booth has launched a stinging attack on the ECB's handling of Kevin Pietersen . The star batsman will ply his trade for Surrey in a bid to reclaim his spot in the England Test team . And he continues: 'A few wins might have deflected attention from a charge sheet that would include the mishandling of the Kevin Pietersen affair, worrying Test attendances outside London, a head in the sand attitude to the one-day team and - not yet a decade after the 2005 Ashes had presented English cricket with a golden chance to attract a new generation to the sport – a fall in the number of recreational players. 'Starting with the drubbing in Australia, England lost eight full series out of all across the formats in 2014, to say nothing of their defeat by the Netherlands at the World Twenty20. In all, they lost 28 games. Only once had this been surpassed in a calendar year by one of the eight major teams – the dysfunctional 2010 Pakistanis. 'National selector James Whitaker had called Cook "our exceptional leader"; Paul Downton, the ECB's new managing director, hailed Peter Moores as the "outstanding coach of his generation". It was a nexus of self-preservation yet, as the wagons circled, the wheels kept threatening to fall off.' The Wisden editor is just as scathing about England's decision to sack Alastair Cook as one-day captain on the drink of what turned out to be the most disastrous World Cup in England's history. Peter Moores presided over a disastrous World Cup but was labelled 'the outstanding coach of his generation' by the ECB's new managing director Paul Downton . The beleaguered Alastair Cook was stripped of the one-day captaincy before the World Cup debacle . 'To leave the sacking of Cook so late made little sense,' says Booth. 'Had he stepped down in August after the 3-1 Test win over India he could have done so with his post-Ashes reputation partly restored. This would have allowed him to gather strength for the ludicrous run of 17 Tests in less than 10 months, starting in Great Optimism in Antigua in April 2015 and ending in Near Exhaustion in South Africa in January 2016. (As someone pointed out, 17 Tests are almost a third of Don Bradman's career.) 'Trouble was, Cook had become more than just a cricketer: cast by his employers in the role of latter-day saint to Pietersen's fallen angel, he was now an article of faith. Giles Clarke (the ECB chairman) even suggested the Cooks were "very much the sort of people we want the England captain and his family to be" which was all well and good but couldn't stop him edging behind. Downton, Whitaker and Moores were all bound up with his fate. Cook had to succeed, as much for others as himself. It was an intolerable position. 'England overplayed their hand. The Test win over a supine India did not mean Cook would effect a similar transformation of the one-day side. This seemed obvious to everyone – except to the men who run the game.' But Booth, who also writes for Sportsmail, says Cook's eventual sacking so late made little sense . National selector James Whitaker (right) had called Cook 'our exceptional leader' Pietersen appeared on the Graham Norton Show - the presenter suggested 'team sport's not for you' England also come under attack for the way they handled the sacking of Pietersen, a situation where they had right on their side - plus the support of the bulk of those who follow the team around professionally - but somehow allowed the maverick to claim the morale high ground. A situation that, incredibly, is still going on, after Wisden went to press on this year's edition. 'The ECB's comments on the fall-out with Pietersen should have been clear and concise,' writes Booth. 'If you're widely regarded as a pain it helps if you're scoring lots more runs than anyone else. Instead, England botched the PR battle. They hinted that some darker truth about his behaviour would emerge once a confidentiality agreement expired in October. Yet the lull merely prolonged the fiasco. And, when the dirt failed to materialise, the ECB looked rudderless. Worse, in the eyes of those agitating for an explanation, they looked indifferent. 'It was typical of a story beyond ECB's control that their best moment was not of their own making. Having searched in vain for the words that justified his sacking, they were gifted a 324-page solution, an autobiography so full of rancour that BBC chat-show host Graham Norton suggested to Pietersen: "Maybe, just maybe, team sport's not for you." This year's Wisden also includes both a withering review of Pietersen's nasty book by the Mail on Sunday's Patrick Collins, who retired this year after a distinguished career, and an excellent piece of the aspect of his career totally overlooked by Pietersen in his book – batting that touched genius. Simon Hughes admirably fills the void that Pietersen left himself. Gary Ballance has been named one of Wisden's five cricketers of the year in the new edition . Ballance's Yorkshire team-mate Adam Lyth, called up by England, is also in the top five . Jeetan Patel (left) and Angelo Mathews make up the remainder of Booth's top five cricketers . Sri Lanka's brilliant Kumar Sangakkara clinched the title of leading cricketer in the world . Australia's Meg Lanning (batting against England) is honoured with the inaugural women's award . The thousands of disciples of Wisden always look immediately at who the editor has chosen as his five cricketers of the year, one of the oldest and most highly regarded prizes in sport. Booth has chosen well and predictably in the cases of Moeen Ali, who has the honour of being pictured on the front cover, Gary Ballance, Adam Lyth and Angelo Mathews and enterprisingly in Jeetan Patel, who is rewarded for his prolific season for Warwickshire. To me, the award suffers in that players are only allowed to be picked once. For instance, how good would it be if, on his retirement, a player would be described as a five-time Wisden cricketer of the year? Booth is a progressive, brilliant, imaginative editor but perhaps such a move would be just a little too controversial for such a traditional vehicle as Wisden. The brilliant Kumar Sangakkara, who will be delighting championship audiences with Surrey this summer, is the leading cricketer in the world while, for the first time, there is an international woman cricketer of the year. Australia's Meg Lanning is honoured with the inaugural women's award. As ever, Wisden is a must for any cricket fan and even at a time of continuing turmoil for the England team and genuine concerns about cricket's future world-wise, it is a reassuring presence however critical the editor is of it. Moeen Ali (England and Worcestershire) England’s search for a spin bowler to replace Graeme Swann was thought to be doomed – until Moeen Ali lit up the summer with 12 wickets in the Southampton and Manchester Tests against India. He finished the series with 19 at 23 apiece. Earlier in the season he had almost saved the Headingley Test against Sri Lanka, batting for all bar one ball of the final day. And, when he was promoted to open for the one-day side, he scored the third-fastest hundred by an England batsman, from 72 balls against Sri Lanka in Colombo. Moeen Ali celebrates taking the wicket of India's Cheteshwar Pujara at Old Trafford last summer . Gary Ballance (England and Yorkshire) Gary Ballance began the summer with a century in his first home Test, against Sri Lanka at Lord’s, and followed up with two more against India – at Lord’s and Southampton. By the end of the season he boasted a Test average of over 60. Gary Ballance celebrates reaching his century during the third test with India in Southampton last year . Adam Lyth (England and Yorkshire) Yorkshire opening batsman Adam Lyth was the leading run-scorer in the County Championship, with 1,489 runs at an average of 67 and six hundreds, and was one of the pillars of his team’s triumph. He was rewarded with a place on England’s tour of the Caribbean in April 2015. Yorkshire's Adam Lyth was the leading run-scorer in the 2014 County Championship season . Angelo Mathews (Sri Lanka) Angelo Mathews was the inspiration behind Sri Lanka’s first Test series victory in England. After helping to save the First Test at Lord’s with a century, he made 160 – and took four wickets – as Sri Lanka came from behind to win in Leeds. Mathews also led his team to wins in the one-day series and the one-off Twenty20 international. Angelo Mathews after making 160 for Sri Lanka in the second Test with England at Headingley . Jeetan Patel (New Zealand and Warwickshire) New Zealand off-spinner Jeetan Patel was central to Warwickshire’s success across all three formats. He claimed 107 victims in total, more than anyone in the country, and his 25 wickets in the NatWest T20 Blast – the most in the competition – helped his side lift the trophy on home turf at Edgbaston. Jeetan Patel takes the final wicket as Warwickshire beat Middlesex in last year's County Championship .
highlights: Wisden editor Lawrence Booth launched an attack on English cricket .
  The Sportsmail writer criticised their handling of the Kevin Pietersen affair .
  Booth was also scathing of England's late decision to sack Alastair Cook as one-day captain on the eve of the World Cup .
  Moeen Ali stars on the cover of Wisden, released on Wednesday .
  Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara named leading cricketer in the world .
  Australia's Meg Lanning is honoured with the inaugural women's award .
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