Woakes and Buttler make MVP strides

Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler have made big strides in the PCA’s England Most Valuable Player Rankings after spearheading their side’s memorable three-wicket win over Pakistan at Emirates Old Trafford.

Woakes strengthened his hold on third position in the Test Rankings after his battling 84 not out on the last day followed four wickets in an outstanding performance.

The all-rounder now has 87 MVP points at an average of 29 points-per-game from his three appearances this summer, and now sits behind only Ben Stokes and Stuart Broad in the Test MVP.

Buttler, meanwhile, had a match to remember on his home ground as he struck 75 in a brilliant partnership with Woakes on the final day, having already made 38 in the first innings and taken three catches behind the stumps throughout the match.

He moves up to fourth position in the Test MVP with 54.5 points, his highest position of the summer so far.

Woakes and Buttler respectively sit fourth and fifth in the cross-format Overall MVP, which is currently dominated by Test specialists – David Willey is the only member of the limited overs squad to feature in the current top 10.

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.

The Overall MVP leader had a quiet game in Manchester by his own high standards, but still sits atop the Rankings by a margin of 7.5 MVP points from closest challenger Broad (112.5 points).

Having had a game to remember in the final Test of the preceding series against West Indies, veteran seamer Broad marked another milestone in this fixture, going past 800 first-class wickets at Old Trafford.

The 2019 Test MVP remains the pick of England’s bowlers this year – he currently has 88 bowling MVP points to his name, by far the most of any player.

Behind Stokes, Broad, Woakes and Buttler, skipper Joe Root currently completes the Test MVP top five, as his side head to Southampton for the second Test against Pakistan with a 1-0 lead thanks to today’s brilliant win.

View the England MVP Rankings here.

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