Brilliant Broad second in MVP after milestone Test

Stuart Broad has moved up to second place in the PCA’s England MVP Rankings after a scintillating individual display at Emirates Old Trafford helped England to reclaim the Wisden Trophy at West Indies’ expense.

The fast bowler claimed match figures of 10-67 during England’s 269-run win, and a rapid 62 in the first innings also helped Broad to be named MVP of the Match with 54.72 points. 

It all contributed to a memorable Test Match for Broad, after he became the seventh member of Test cricket’s ‘500 club’ after claiming the wicket of West Indies opener Kraigg Brathwaite on day five.

Broad’s points tally for the summer stands at 82 MVP points, placing him second behind only Ben Stokes (110) in the PCA’s current England Most Valuable Player Rankings.

Broad, however, is averaging more MVP points-per-game (41) than Stokes (37) after the former sat out the first Test Match of the series in Southampton. He will have the chance to make up more ground on the vice-captain as England face Pakistan in a three-match Test series in August.

The 34-year-old seemingly improves with age, though, continuing his fine form on home soil after being named the Test MVP for summer 2019 when he finished the Specsavers Ashes Series as England’s leading wicket-taker.

The MVP Rankings were created by the PCA in conjunction with the players in order to determine the match-winners in any given fixture. On top of traditional batting and bowling averages, bonus points are awarded for key contributions such as scoring a high proportion of your team’s runs, claiming top-order wickets and taking catches in the field.

Four England men’s MVPs will be named at the conclusion of the side’s summer schedule, with one for each of the three main formats as well as a cross-format Overall MVP. Stokes is the current holder of that title after he scored 181 MVP points at an average of 20.15 points-per-game in New Zealand and South Africa during the winter.

Although Stokes won’t have the benefit of playing across multiple formats this summer, he remains favourite to claim the Overall MVP for the second time in succession based on Test performances alone. He has a 28-point lead ahead of Broad at the top.

Whilst first placed Stokes and second placed Broad were clearly ranked as England’s most effective batsman (75 batting points) and bowler (66 bowling points) respectively during this series, seamer Chris Woakes made a late surge to third place in the MVP as his 5-50 propelled him to 46 MVP points in total on the last day.

Below him, Rory Burns sits in fourth place – his score of 91 in the third Test at Emirates Old Trafford makes him England’s second most effective batsman for the summer with 39 points in that discipline.

Burns’ opening partner Dom Sibley completes the top five with 38 total points, though there’s plenty to play for with just four MVP points separating him and James Anderson in ninth.

England’s limited overs squad will have a chance to make up ground on the Test squad in the MVP as they look forward to three ODIs against Ireland, before the longest format returns with three Tests against Pakistan in August.

View the England MVP Rankings here.

Keep up-to-date with all the latest MVP news by following the @pcaMVP on Twitter.