Knight leads the way in England Women’s MVP

England captain Heather Knight has led from the front with her performances as her side continued their fine form with a 3-0 series whitewash against the West Indies.

The gulf in class between the two sides was evident as Knight made scores of 94, 14 and an unbeaten 40 and took two wickets in the series to help England win their 13th game in a row and move to the brink of 2021 ICC Cricket World Cup qualification.

Those stats have helped the 28-year-old to accrue 31.92 PCA Most Valuable Player points, and subsequently rise to the top of the England Women’s Overall Ranking. The first ODI was England’s first outing of the summer, meaning the MVP Rankings was reset in the build-up to the game. As a result, Knight now has a significant head start on her teammates in the race for the summer 2019 MVP.

The Berkshire star’s performance in the series opener was particularly notable, as she made a brilliant 94 off the same number of balls in Leicester – nearly 30% of England’s 318-9. She also took a catch in the match and was captain of the winning side, meaning she earned 15.36 MVP points and was duly crowned MVP for that game.

Wicketkeeper Amy Jones sits just one point behind Knight as it stands.

The 26-year-old has been England’s outstanding player of the last nine months. She was crowned the 2018/19 winter MVP after enjoying fantastic series’ against India and Sri Lanka, and has continued to contribute during the first three games against the West Indies.

Jones was pipped to the MVP award by Knight in the first ODI after making 91, but made amends in the final game of the series as she was rewarded for her blistering 80, earning 13.10 MVP points and the MVP award for her efforts.

If any further indication of Jones’ stunning form with the bat was needed, she would currently lead the Overall MVP if Knight hadn’t earned three bonus points for being the winning captain in each match of the series.

The MVP formula is designed to reward match-winning performances, meaning extra weighting is given to players such as Knight who captain the winning side. Bonus points are also awarded for scoring quickly, hitting a high proportion of your team’s runs and taking top order wickets, among other things.

Alongside Knight and Jones, the only other member of the England squad to win an MVP award during the West Indies series was star bowler Anya Shrubsole.

In a rain-affected second ODI at Worcester, Shrubsole thrashed 32* off 16 balls down the order, before removing both West Indies openers in a devastating bowling spell that saw her return figures of 2 wickets12 from five overs.

Shrubsole went wicketless for the rest of the series, but nevertheless sits just outside the current top five after her brilliant outing in the second fixture.

The bowlers that have had the biggest impact on the Rankings so far are Kate Cross and Sophie Ecclestone.

The Lancashire duo finished as England’s joint-highest wicket takers in the series with five apiece, and currently sit third and fourth in the Overall MVP respectively.

Completing the current top five is Kent’s Tammy Beaumont, who once again proved to be England’s rock at the top of the order after averaging 46.33 in the series.

After winning the series with a game to spare, England were afforded the luxury of handing an ODI debut to Surrey’s Bryony Smith. Smith has been in scintillating form on the domestic scene so far this season, and returned impressive figures of 1-20 off her eight overs in the final ODI.

The young prospect will be hoping to make a further impact during England’s next assignment, which comes in the form of three T20Is against the same opposition.

View the England Women’s MVP Rankings here.

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