Batsman Joe Root has won England’s Most Valuable Player of the winter in the Professional Cricketers’ Association MVP rankings.

Batsman Joe Root has won England’s Most Valuable Player of the winter in the Professional Cricketers’ Association MVP rankings. Yorkshire’s Root was one of only two players to play in every England match during the winter – Jos Buttler was the other – and he topped the run scoring charts in both Test (358) and One Day International (671) cricket. Root finished the PCA MVP winter campaign 19 points clear of long-time leader Moeen Ali having taken the lead after the Grenada Test against the West Indies where he made an unbeaten 182 in England’s first innings. In the three Tests against the West Indies Root scored 358 runs at the healthy rate of 73 runs per 100 balls. His 182 in Grenada came at the rate of 79 runs per 100 balls and he counter-attacked on a difficult pitch in Barbados scoring 33 off 39 balls in England’s first innings. He scored 22.72% of England’s series’ runs. Root finished second in the ODI MVP behind Ali, scoring two hundreds, three fifties and four other scores of 36 or better and contributing 17.82% of England’s ODI runs. ” I am delighted to have finished the winter as England’s Most Valued Player,” Root said. ” The PCA MVP rankings assess players’ contributions across all forms of the game and, having played in every match for England throughout the winter, it’s an honour to have my performances recognised in this way.” Ali missed England’s last World Cup match against Afghanistan and the first Test in Antigua after sustaining a side strain an injury that probably cost him the MVP title. He topped the ODI Rankings scoring 547 runs and taking 16 wickets but struggled a touch with the ball upon his return to the Test team after he had bowled 11 wicket-less overs for Worcestershire in their opening LV= County Championship match against Yorkshire last month. Buttler finished third in the rankings with 168 points from his 21 games across all formats with Ian Bell fourth with 710 runs, 555 of them in ODIs with a best of 141 against Australia in Hobart during the pre-World Cup Tri-series. Jimmy Anderson, who became England’s leading Test wicket-taker of all time during the West Indies series, came fifth overall and was the leading specialist bowler. England’s leading Test wicket-taker produced a couple of heroic spells during the Test series including four for 43 on the last morning in Grenada to pave the way for an England victory. He backed that up with six for 42 in Barbados to take his wicket tally to 17 for the series and to 397 for his career. Anderson is England’s most successful Test cricketer since the MVP Rankings began back in 2007. He has accrued 1777 points, 199 more than Stuart Broad in second. In this winter’s overall campaign Anderson averaged 11.75 points per game second only to Chris Jordan who averaged 12.08. Anderson did not take part in the Sri Lankan tour before Christmas, which cost him games and points. Jason Ratcliffe, creator of the rankings and assistant chief executive of the PCA said: ” This is a fantastic achievement with outstanding statistics. Being ever present is obviously helpful in MVP point accumulation, but that is testament to Joe’s ability, form and fitness” WINTER MVP PLAYER BAT BOWL FIELD CAPT WINS PLAYED POINTS AV PTS Root 199.70 23.64 16 0 7 21 246 11.73 Moeen 122.31 91.94 7 0 6 19 227 11.96 Buttler 99.15 0 62 0 7 21 168 8.01 Bell 150.11 0 7 0 5 16 162 10.13 Anderson 5.23 138.58 4 0 5 13 153 11.75 For more information on the MVP ranking system please visit www.thepca.co.uk. For more info on this release contact Dave Fulton on 07742106991, dfulton@thepca.co.uk or Jason Ratcliffe at the PCA on 07768 558 050 or jratcliffe@thepca.co.uk The Formula The MVP is a cumulative points system that rewards players for every run scored, wicket taken and catch held – and, how well they do it. A player achieves bonus points based in certain criteria. An overview of the formula is set out below: Batting + Bowling + Fielding + Captaincy + Winning = Total MVP points Batting: The basis of the batting points take into account runs scored, the rate scored at, and the percentage of the team’s total. Batting bonus points are achieved for reaching a century, achieving a benchmark run-rate (varies per tournament, i.e. 1.5 runs per ball in the Twenty20), and scoring over 30% of a team’s runs Bowling: The basis for the bowling points take into account the number of wickets and economy rates. Bowlers achieve higher points for getting out higher order batsmen Bowling bonus points are achieved for achieving a benchmark economy rate (varies per tournament, i.e. fewer than 6 runs per over in Twenty20), taking 5 or more wickets in an innings, and bowling maidens. Fielding: Points are accumulated for catches, run outs – direct hits, run outs – assists, stumpings, with bonuses for 5 fielding dismissals in an innings. Captaincy: A captain of a winning side will receive one bonus point Winning teams: All members of a winning team receive one bonus point {{ak_sharing}}