A biography of John Wisden, a key pioneer in the rapid spread of cricket's popularity in the middle years of the nineteenth century. He created the United England Eleven, a touring team of professional cricketers. He established shops that were ground-breaking in the sale of sports equipment. He developed the Cricketers' Fund Friendly Society, supporting professional cricketers in times of need. And, most memorably, he launched the Almanack that is still in the twenty-first century considered to be the 'bible of cricket'.