World Cup places up for grabs – MVP preview

England’s ODI summer campaign steps up a notch on Wednesday with Tom Curran holding an early lead in the ODI PCA Most Valuable Player Rankings.

The World Cup hosts have started their summer well which began in Malahide on Friday. On an unpredictable pitch in tricky conditions, England skittled the men in green for just 198. A batting collapse followed, reducing England to 66-5 at one point before Surrey duo Ben Foakes and Curran eventually guided their team home with three overs to spare.

The latter currently leads the way in the PCA’s coveted England ODI MVP Rankings. A score of 47* alongside bowling figures of three wickets for 35 runs helped Curran to amass an impressive 28.14 MVP points. The current top three is completed by two of the all-rounder’s Surrey teammates, with wicketkeeper Foakes in second place and paceman Liam Plunkett in third.

The PCA’s MVP algorithm rewards players for match-winning showings, giving a better indication of performance than traditional batting and bowling stats. For example, extra points are given for hitting a high percentage of your team’s runs or taking top order wickets.

Curran will look to extend his lead at the top of the MVP Rankings during the upcoming five-match ODI series against Pakistan. However, the first port of call for the Surrey man will be to keep his place in the side amidst the return of some of England’s biggest names.

All-rounder Ben Stokes and star batsmen Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow will return from successful stints in this year’s IPL, whilst Jason Roy will be hoping to overcome a niggling back injury to regain his place at the top of the England order.

Elsewhere, new man Jofra Archer will look to build on his promising start to his international career as he looks to force his way into the World Cup squad. The Sussex speedster has taken three wickets across his ODI and T20I debut and currently sits in fifth position in the Overall MVP.

The Pakistan series begins on Wednesday 8 March at the Kia Oval and will wrap up just 11 days later at Emerald Headingley. Every member of the England squad will see the games as an audition for a World Cup place with the squad announced on Wednesday 22 May.

Since the Ireland ODI, England started and finished their T20I summer with an impressive win over Pakistan.

The tourists batted well to set England 174 to win. World number one-ranked T20I batsman Babar Azam led the way with 65 off 42 before being impressively run out by England’s Archer.

Hampshire’s James Vince opened up with a sumptuous 36 in response, before England turned to their inspirational skipper Eoin Morgan to lead them home. The Middlesex man blasted 57 off just 29 balls, including a six to win the game in the final over.

Morgan’s remarkable innings, solitary catch and the fact that he captained the winning side all contributed to his 19.96 MVP points. As a result, he takes home the PCA’s England T20I MVP for summer 2019, albeit with the team having only played one game. The big-hitting batsman has continued his impressive form after taking home last winter’s ODI MVP.

View the MVP Rankings here.

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