England captain Charlotte Edwards has become only the second woman to be named as one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year.
Edwards, 34, has won five Ashes series, the World Cup and the World Twenty20 in an 18-year international career.
The 2014 list also includes England batsman Joe Root, Australia paceman Ryan Harris and opener Chris Rogers, plus India batsman Shikhar Dhawan.
“I’m really shocked. It’s something I will cherish,” said Edwards.
The coveted awards, which began in 1889, are a central feature of the annual Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, the 151st edition of which was published on Wednesday.
Claire Taylor, Edwards’s former team-mate, was the first woman to be included on the list in 2009.
Edwards added: “Since I was a child I’ve looked at the Wisden – my dad always had it every year. To be in the 2014 edition is a very proud moment for me.
“I’m honoured to think I’m in an illustrious list of players from the past.”
The Cricketers of the Year are selected by the editor, based primarily on their performances in the previous English season, and cannot have been chosen before.
Edwards led England to an Ashes series win against Australia on home soil last summer and retained the trophy down under over the winter.
She has won 277 international caps – 21 Tests, 178 one-day internationals and 78 Twenty20 internationals – a women’s cricket record.
Root, 23, scored his maiden Test century against New Zealand at Headingley and 180 in the second Test against Australia at Lord’s to help England win the Ashes.
Seamer Harris, 34, took 24 wickets in Australia’s failed Ashes campaign, and played a key role in their 5-0 whitewash in the return series.
Opening batsman Rogers was the leading run-scorer across both series, having been recalled at the age of 35.
Batsman Dhawan, 28, made 187 off 174 balls – the fastest Test century on debut – against Australia at Mohali in March, and 363 runs at an average of 90 earned him the player of the tournament award as India won the Champions Trophy in England.
Wisden also celebrates the five greatest female cricketers in history, including England’s Enid Bakewell, 73, and names South Africa pace bowler Dale Steyn as the Leading Cricketer in the World.
In the Notes by the Editor section, Lawrence Booth accuses the boards of India, England and Australia of “colonial-style divide and rule” after they gained more power in changes to the structure of the International Cricket Council.
“Cricket is appallingly administered,” he writes. “It was hard to read this any other way: the rich would be getting a whole lot richer.”
