Broad the man to beat in Test MVP

Stuart Broad is the man to beat in the PCA’s Test Most Valuable Player Rankings going into England’s final five-day fixture of the summer against Pakistan.

Despite incessant rain meaning only 134.3 overs were completed in the second Test of the series at the Ageas Bowl, Broad did enough to replace Ben Stokes in the format-specific Test Rankings, gaining 13 MVP points during the fixture thanks to his 4-56 in the first innings.

His 127 total MVP points put him seven clear of Stokes (120) in second place, and 36 clear of Chris Woakes (91)  in third, the all-rounder now realistically being the only player still able to move ahead of Broad.

Even so, Woakes would still require Broad to score zero MVP points, and himself to score at least 37 – a match-winning performance – during the final Test at the Ageas Bowl in order to knock his teammate off the top spot.

Behind Woakes, Jos Buttler occupies fourth position with 56.5 MVP points, whilst James Anderson bowled beautifully in the first innings to claim 3-60 and move up to fifth place with 55 MVP points.

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.

In a unique summer with separate squads playing Test and limited-overs fixtures, the Overall MVP table currently bears a close resemblance to the Test standings.

David Willey is the only member of the limited overs squad, who have so far completed three ODI fixtures against Ireland, to be in the Overall MVP top five. He occupies third position and is sandwiched between Broad, Stokes, Woakes and Buttler in first, second, fourth and fifth positions.

With Australia having recently been confirmed to travel to England for three ODIs and three T20Is in September, the race for the Overall MVP could yet heat up towards the back end of the summer.

Before then, however, we will find out the identity of England’s Test MVP following the Three Lions’ final Test fixture against Pakistan at the Ageas.

View the England MVP Rankings here.

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