Playfair Cricket Annual
Playfair Cricket Annual is a compact annual about cricket that is published in the United Kingdom each April, just before the English cricket season is due to begin. It has been published every year since 1948. Its main purposes are to review the previous English season and to provide detailed career records and potted biographies of current players. It is produced in a "pocket-sized" format, being approximately 5×4 in (i.e., about 13×10 cm), so that it is a convenient size for carrying to cricket matches. The front cover of each edition has featured a photograph of a prominent current cricketer. There is a popular myth that this "honour" has a "hex" or "curse" associated with it, as the player featured then invariably has a poor season.
International cricket in 2018
The 2018 international cricket season was from May 2018 to September 2018. 16 Test matches, 27 One-day Internationals (ODIs) and 33 Twenty20 International (T20Is) were played during this period. The season started with India leading the Test cricket rankings, England leading the ODI rankings, Pakistan leading the Twenty20 rankings, and Australia women leading the women's rankings. This season was also the first to be scheduled under the 2018–2023 Future Tours Programme. In addition, all women's Twenty20 matches played between member sides after 1 July were given full international status and classified as WT20Is, as per a decision made by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in April 2018. The first WT20Is to be classified as such under these new rules took place at the 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier.