PCA PRESS RELEASE
Jonny Bairstow has finished top of the England PCA MVP Rankings following the conclusion of the winter campaign in Christchurch.
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England’s wicketkeeper-batsman has recorded several memorable innings during the winter tours of Australia and New Zealand so it is perhaps no surprise the Yorkshireman has finished top of the pile with 205.83 points.
Bairstow’s latest century in the second Test against New Zealand propelled him ahead of Warwickshire all-rounder Chris Woakes who missed the final Test and as a result finished second in the rankings five points behind the lead.
Despite Bairstow’s century, England couldn’t take the ten second-innings wickets they desperately needed to level the series as they fell to a 1-0 defeat against the Blackcaps.
England captain Joe Root completed the Overall MVP top three, but spoke of his disappointment that he didn’t convert more of his fifties into big scores during the winter period.
The PCA MVP rankings system is designed by the players and helps identify the match-winners and key influencers of matches throughout the season.
The rankings system provides a rigorous analysis of player performances with more in-depth coverage than traditional batting and bowling averages.
Stuart Broad, who averaged the most points per appearance, denied James Anderson a summer and winter Test MVP double as he pipped the Lancastrian to the number one Test position. Anderson and Broad didn’t feature in any of England’s winter white-ball cricket, but finished 4th and 6th respectively in the overall rankings.
After not featuring in any limited-overs cricket, England’s veteran bowlers finished comfortably ahead in the MVP Test Rankings as they took 47 wickets, averaging 29.82 between them during their seven appearances.
Broad also managed to hit the landmark 400 wickets during the winter as he dismissed Tom Latham in the first Test against New Zealand to become only England’s second bowler to achieve this feat.
Unsurprisingly the closest challenger to England’s frontline bowlers was overall winner Jonny Bairstow who finished third, ahead of Joe Root, Dawid Malan and Alastair Cook.
Root achieved the most batting points during the Test series against Australia and New Zealand, but finished behind Bairstow whose wicketkeeping earned him a total of 29.00 fielding points.
Despite England’s Test series not going to plan, the ODI’s gave the side a platform to excel with seven victories in ten outings.
Chris Woakes second place finish overall was largely down to his performances in the ODI’s as he finished way ahead of the chasing pack averaging almost five more points per performance than any of his other challengers.
Dawid Malan topped the T20I Rankings after the T20 tri-series with 41.75 points, 13 points ahead of second place Eoin Morgan.
Morgan played two fewer games than Malan but had the highest points-per-game average.
