Flintoff and Adams named in the Wisden Five

Andrew Flintoff, the Lancashire and England all-rounder, has been named as one of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack five cricketers of the year. Also named in the prestigious list was Chris Adams, who captained Sussex to their first title success in the Frizzell County Championship since it all began in 1890. Gloucestershire's Australian all-rounder Ian Harvey was included, as were two South Africans, Graeme Smith and Gary Kirsten.

Flintoff was rewarded with the accolade, which is traditionally only made once in a player's career, for his performances against South Africa last summer when he scored a dazzling 142 in the Lord's Test along with a more important 95 at the Oval. That innings contributed significantly towards England winning the match and drawing the series.

Adams did not enjoy his most productive season with the bat for Sussex. At one point he was at a very low personal ebb, but he came back to make runs when it mattered. Not only was he the moving force of his side but he scored four hundreds when it mattered, and none were more important than the three he recorded against Surrey and Lancashire, Sussex's main rivals for the title, towards the end of season.

Harvey again played a major role for Gloucestershire, helping them to yet another one-day title when they won the C&G Trophy at Lord's when he won the man-of-the-match award after taking two crucial wickets and scoring 61. He also contributed throughout the season to his county's cause in all competitions.

Ricky Ponting, Australia's new captain whose photograph appears on the front cover of the book alongside his predecessor Steve Waugh, heads a new feature in Wisden this year - the world's top 40 players. There are three Englishmen included. As well as Flintoff, Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick also make the top 40.

Adams will be leading his Sussex side out as county champions at Lord's tomorrow as the traditional season's curtain-raiser takes place. MCC versus the Champion County makes a welcome return to the fixture list for the first time since 1991. MCC have named a strong side that will be led by former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower.

MCC consulted the England selectors before naming their side, and have produced an interesting combination of players who have already had experience at the highest level and those pushing for places.

Gloucestershire all-rounder Alex Gidman, who led the England A side on tour this winter before returning home injured, is vice-captain to Flower, and the England Under 19 captain at the recent World Cup, Alastair Cook, is also in the team. Cook's Essex team-mate James Foster is one of those who has already played Test cricket, as has Kent's Robert Key and Martin Saggers, who has been drafted in as a replacement for the injured Steve Kirby.

Along with Warwickshire's highly-promising Ian Bell are four other members of the England A team: Kevin Pietersen, Graham Napier, James Tredwell and Sajid Mahmood. Pietersen becomes eligible to play for England in September and stood out on the tour to Malaysia and India. Napier had a good tour, Tredwell took over as captain when Gidman was forced to return home, while Mahmood impressed with his pace bowling and could well have gone to the Caribbean with the full England side had Simon Jones not recovered from his knee injury.

The Sussex team will be picked from a 13-man squad: Montgomerie, Ward, Goodwin, Adams, Prior, Ambrose, Martin-Jenkins, Davis, Ahmed, Lewry, Akram, Innes and Yardy. Sussex report no injuries.

MCC and Sussex are also holding an historic exhibition at Lord's to commemorate the matches between the sides which go as far back as 1823. The last time the fixture was played at Lord's was in 1905 and there has only been one fixture since then which was at Hastings in 1946.