Three members of the England team which won the Women’s World Cup last year have been named among Wisden’s five Cricketers of the Year.

Heather Knight, Anya Shrubsole and Nat Sciver were named alongside Essex pacebowler Jamie Porter and West Indian Shia Hope in the famous five for 2018

Only twice before have female cricketers been among the list of leading players: Claire Taylor broke new ground in 2009 and Charlotte Edwards followed five years later, but the importance of England’s win in a hugely successful World Cup brought the three to the fore.

To emphasise the point, Shrubsole adorns the cover of the latest Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.

‘If Wisden had failed to reflect the significance of the World Cup — a tournament that will go down as a turning point in the history of women’s cricket — we would not have been doing our job,’ said Wisden editor Lawrence Booth.

‘Perhaps the best bit about both the cover and the Five is that they don’t feel forced – gimmickry would have been an insult both to the readers and the players themselves.  Knight, Sciver and Shrubsole are there not because of gender, but because they deserve to be.

‘Here’s to the day when female Wisden Cricketers of the Year feel as normal as rain at the start of the Championship season and agonising over the future of Test cricket. ‘