Photo Credit: Professional Cricketers’ Association
England all-rounder wins winter MVP award.
Joe Root has won the Overall Men’s International Winter MVP award following the completion of the winter fixtures.
The England all-rounder featured in nine ODIs during the World Cup for his country alongside the five Tests in India, finishing with 183 MVP points.
The 33-year-old scored 320 Test runs at an average of 35.5 and 276 runs in ODI cricket averaging 30.6, to give him a combined 596 runs across the winter.
Root also highlighted his bowling acumen with eight Test wickets in India, including figures of 4-79 in the first Test at Hyderabad that England won by 28 runs.
The Yorkshireman picked up three Match MVP awards with the first coming against New Zealand in the World Cup for scoring 77 off 86 balls, earning him 13 MVP points.
A century in the fourth Test in Ranchi provided another Match MVP, as Root scored a phenomenal unbeaten 122, securing 39 MVP points.
In the fifth Test, Root picked up 31 points and his third Match MVP of the winter for his contributions of 26 and 84 with the bat.
England’s new off-spinning duo of Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley impressed on the tour of India, both taking their maiden five-wicket hauls in Test cricket.
Hartley took incredible figures of 9-193 along with innings of 23 and 34 on debut in the first Test to earn 51 MVP points and ended up fourth on the Overall Winter table with 123 MVP points.
Somerset’s Bashir took 17 wickets at an average of 33.3 in his three Tests, earning 78 MVP points in total.
The award was selected by the PCA Most Valuable Player Rankings, powered by Argentex. The formula takes into account expected performance on every ball according to CricViz’s extensive database. The algorithm also considers the historic performances of the venue each fixture is being played at, therefore giving a more accurate reflection of the top performers in the game than traditional batting and bowling averages do.
Phil Salt came second on the table with 144 MVP points thanks to an outstanding T20 International series in the West Indies.
The England opener scored a staggering 331 runs in the five T20 Internationals claiming four Match MVP awards.
An unbeaten 109 off 56 balls which included four fours and nine sixes earnt Salt 32 MVP points as England won the third match by seven wickets.
Even more outstanding was his next innings of 119 off 57 balls at the Brian Lara Stadium where he smashed seven fours and 10 sixes as England won by 75 runs, earning him a incredible 53 MVP points.
Thanks to his performances, Salt has been awarded with an IPL contract and will play for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the upcoming tournament, having represented Delhi Capitals last year.
Kent’s Zak Crawley finished third on the overall table with 125 MVP points, as Root topped the Test table, Dawid Malan finished first in the Winter ODIs and Salt smashed his way to the summit of the T20 International rankings.
View the Overall Men’s International Winter MVP final standings here.
