PCA PRESS RELEASE
All-rounder Chris Woakes has finished top of the England PCA Most Valuable Player Rankings for the winter ODI season.
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The Warwickshire man added the crown of being England’s most consistent performer in One Day Internationals this winter to his Player of the Series award he picked up after another standout performance in the deciding match of the five-game series over the weekend.
England beat New Zealand by seven wickets in Christchurch with Woakes starring with the new ball and bowling at the death once again, taking 3-32 from his 10 overs in a dominant display by Eoin Morgan’s men.
In a tight series, Woakes’ brilliance with the ball proved to be a telling factor with his 10 wickets coming at an average of 20 while setting the tone with the new ball.
The 29-year-old was a clear winner of the award, coming 30 points ahead of second place Jonny Bairstow in the rankings after back-to-back centuries from the opener propelled the Yorkshireman up the table after two phenomenal innings.
The ODI series came to a close on Saturday to round off a hugely successful winter in the 50-over format with England beating Australia 4-1 in January followed by a 3-2 success over New Zealand. A stark contrast to the last time England played ODI cricket in Australasia which resulted in an early exit from the 2015 World Cup, a tournament where Australia defeated the Kiwis in the final.
The PCA MVP Rankings system was introduced in 2007 an innovation which provides a more rigorous analysis of player performances than traditional batting and bowling averages.
The rankings were designed by the players to identify match-winners and key influencers of matches throughout international and domestic cricket in England and Wales.
Test Captain Joe Root claimed the Player of the Series award for the Australia leg of the ODI tour but the consistency of Woakes throughout the winter made him a clear winner.
Despite Woakes flying high at the top of the rankings, Adil Rashid was the individual to take the most points with the ball, his winter haul of 72 points was two more than the opening bowler.
Bairstow was the most successful batsmen, finishing on 89 points, 16 more than his county team mate Root which edged him above Jos Buttler and into second place after his 58-ball hundred in the final white-ball match of the tour.
To sum up the all-round ability of table topper Woakes, only Bairstow, Buttler, Root and Jason Roy secured more batting points than the Warwickshire man, despite batting at number eight in all of his nine appearances this winter.
With an average of 14.39 points per ODI, the returning Ben Stokes was his closest challenger on the points per game ladder with an average of 10.32 in his five matches to show the importance of the Durham all-rounder.
Away from the MVP Rankings, Woakes also became only the fourth player after Sir Ian Botham, Andrew Flintoff and Paul Collingwood to score over 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in ODI cricket for England during the successful series in New Zealand.
To view the full ODI MVP Rankings click here.
