Plunkett tops England T20 International PCA MVP Rankings

Plunkett tops England T20 International PCA MVP Rankings Liam Plunkett has finished top of this season’s England’s Professional Cricketers’ Association Most Valuable Player Rankings in T20 International cricket. Plunkett impressed with bat and ball in Saturday’s defeat by West Indies in the T20 International at Chester-le-Street and earned sufficient rankings points to finish two points clear of his Yorkshire team-mate Jonny Bairstow and Nottinghamshire’s Alex Hales in the format’s PCA MVP table. Plunkett finished with 16 match points against the West Indies, 13 of them for taking three for 27 against the World T20 champions. He also weighed in with 18 runs as England fell 21 runs short and ended the summer with 35 rankings points in T20 Internationals. Hales, who top-scored with 43 from 17 balls, earned 10 PCA MVP points to finish level with Bairstow on 33 points. Jason Roy finished fourth on 29 points and his Surrey team-mate Tom Curran fifth with 28 points. The PCA MVP Rankings system identifies the match-winners and key influencers of matches throughout the domestic season. The formula takes into account conditions, quality of opposition, captaincy and strike-rates as well as runs scored and wickets taken. Although Joe Root earned just eight points at Chester-le-Street they allowed him to draw level with Ben Stokes at the top of the overall England PCA MVP which covers all international cricket this season. Root and Stokes go into the One Day International series against West Indies on 281 points, 53 points ahead of Moeen Ali. Jimmy Anderson, whose international season is over, having finished top of England’s Test rankings, is fourth with 203 points and Bairstow fifth on 172. Root will go into the final international matches of the season with a 29 points lead at the top of England’s One Day International rankings. Root has 127 points with Eoin Morgan, England’s white ball captain, in second place and requiring just two more points to become the second to 100 points in the format this season. Stokes is third on 85 points with Rashid two points further back in fourth. The full England PCA MVP Rankings can be viewed here.