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Wisden calls for Dalmiya's resignation

Meanwhile, the premier cricket magazine launched a broadside at ICC chairman Jagmohan Dalmiya, calling for his resignation.

Wisden also lit another fire in its latest issue, when it claimed racial discrimination in the English domestic game.

Two months after leading his team to a mid-match boycott in Australia, Sri Lanka's captain Arjuna Ranatunga made the top five list as Wisden's 136th edition was unveiled today.

So did teammate Muttiah Muralitharan, whose controversial bowling action sparked the 15-minute stand-off between Sri Lankan players and match umpires in Adelaide.

The 1999 almanack, regarded as the game's most authoritative reference book, also names two English players -- fast bowler Darren Gough and all-rounder Ian Austin -- and South African batsman Jonty Rhodes among the top five.

The Wisden award, which dates back to 1889, is based on each players influence on the previous English cricket season and includes only players who played in England in 1998.

Gough last month picked up the English Player of the Year award after helping England to a come-from-behind 2-1 Test series win over South Africa last season.

Rhodes' contribution to the Proteas tour of England, which included a limited-overs series win, was equally rewarded.

Muralitharan bamboozled English batsmen during Sri Lanka's brief tour last year, culminating with his 16-wicket haul to help Sri Lanka beat England in a one-off Test at the Oval in September.

After the match, England coach David Lloyd was censured for criticizing Muralitharan's bowling style.

The 27-year-old off-spinner was later no-balled in Australia in January for chucking'', which prompted Ranatunga to lead his team to the boundary in protest.

Ranatunga and Muralitharan will return to England in May as Sri Lanka attempts to defend the World Cup.

Muralitharan will stay in England after the tournament to play for Lancashire in the county competition.

Wisden editor Matthew Engel called for an end to the "informal, unspoken, very English'' form of cricket apartheid in the English domestic game.

"There is no evidence of active discrimination, but there is a great deal of passive discrimination,'' he wrote.

Engel also called for Jagmohan Dalmiya to resign as International Cricket Council chairman over his handling of the bribes affair, in which Australians Shane Warne and Mark Waugh were found guilty of taking money from an Indian bookmaker.

Engel said Dalmiya knew about the bribes affair for almost four years before it was made public.

AP