Jones edges Overall MVP after West Indies visit

England’s Amy Jones leads the Professional Cricketers’ Association’s Overall Most Valuable Player Rankings after the side kicked off their summer in style against the West Indies.

Jones, who recently capped off a fine winter with the Overall MVP award, has continued her brilliant form to lead the Rankings by a mere 0.05 points.

The 26-year-old finished the three-match ODI series as the top run-scorer from either side, with 189 runs at an average of 63. She also provided a decent showing in the only completed IT20, striking 37 from 27 as she opened the batting with Danni Wyatt.

Jones leads from captain and teammate Heather Knight, whose all-round talents position her well to succeed in the MVP.

The MVP formula is designed to reward match-winning performances, recognising the value of a genuine all-rounder. Points are awarded, for instance, for hitting a high proportion of your team’s runs, taking top order wickets or captaining the winning side.

Knight has benefited significantly from the latter metric in recent times – her side have won their last 14 completed fixtures going back to the winter tour of India. Seven of those victories have come in the 2019 season, meaning the captain currently enjoys a seven-point advantage over her teammates in the MVP.

Her side couldn’t be in better form going into the women’s Ashes, which starts with an ODI at Leicester on Tuesday 2 June. The Ashes will provide a real test for the squad, who were able to easily overcome a West Indies side that didn’t prove to be as competitive as they might have hoped.

The aforementioned Wyatt currently leads the IT20 MVP, albeit with two of the three scheduled fixtures against West Indies having been abandoned due to inclement weather.

In the only IT20 that did take place, at Northampton on Friday 21 June, Wyatt distinguished herself with a fine knock that put the game out of reach of the opposition.

Wyatt smashed a scintillating 81 from just 55 balls, including ten fours, to help England to 180-6 from their 20 overs – the side’s record IT20 score against the West Indies.

The 28-year-old has made a name for herself as something of a T20 specialist throughout her career, and duly made hay after returning to her usual opening spot in the shortest format, having floated around the middle order during the preceding ODI series.

Wyatt took the PCA MVP award for that game with 14.60 MVP points, holding off a strong challenge from Linsey Smith (2-22) to do so, and leads the IT20 MVP by four points as a result.

View the England Women’s Overall MVP Rankings here.

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