There are many books on Tests and one-day internationals published, but this one, compiled and edited by A. Aziz Rehmatullah and Saifullh Khairi, is different from most. The sub-title is "A Biographical Dictionary of One Day International Cricketers (1971-2001)".

The book is unashamedly a reference work. It presents, in alphabetical order within each country, a brief biography of every player in the matches - birth date and place; batting and bowling type; debut; best performances, brief career figures.

The editors have managed in only 255 pages to include photographs of nearly every player - 1001 they say out of the 1184 cricketers included in the book - although I have not counted them! Certainly they are missing photographs of some Bangladesh players - but make up for it by providing one for each East African cricketer. This presentation of photographs is what makes the book unique - no other has previously brought all of these together into one volume.

Published in Pakistan, the book is available in England from Ian Dyer Cricket Books at £13.99 post free.

© CricInfo Ltd.