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Opening bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad remain on top of their game to prove critics wrong.
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Despite the influx of new blood into the squad, it is the new ball pairing of James Anderson and Stuart Broad atop of the England Most Valuable Player Rankings.
Anderson is like a fine wine. At the age of 35 he is leading the overall MVP Rankings for the England squad, after a strong start to the summer.
He claimed 35.69 points during the NatWest #NoBoundaries Test Match Series against Pakistan, taking nine wickets at less than 20 apiece, as he continues to show why he is one of England’s greatest ever bowlers.
Broad continues to work back to his best and looked unplayable in the first innings at Emerald Headingley. Taking three wickets for 38 runs, he had the ball regularly beating the outside edge as he tormented the Pakistani batsmen.
A further three wickets in the second innings meant his performance was rewarded with the MVP Man of the Match award.
Broad’s partnership has become synonymous with English cricket and it looks like there is still plenty of Test wickets and MVP points in it yet.
Only just trailing Broad in third place is Somerset’s Dom Bess. The 20-year-old spinner has already shown glimpses of what he is capable of, with bat and ball.
Following up a half-century on debut at Lord’s, Bess hit 49 as night-watchman in the second Test, before taking his maiden Test wicket. He ended up with three as he grew into the match and took a spectacular diving catch to put the icing on the cake. A return of 28.08 points is a more than solid start.
One player who was welcomed back to the red-ball fold was Jos Buttler. The destructive batsman has been in fine form in the IPL, and has carried it through to the longest format of the game.
With back-to-back Test half-centuries and 26.83 MVP points, it has been a welcome return to the Test arena. Reaching three figures this summer for the first time would be a deserved reward.
Completing the top five is another seasoned campaigner in Alastair Cook. England’s leading run scorer put New Zealand behind him and showed why he is such a great accumulator of runs.
With a score of 70 in the first Test and backed up by 46 in Leeds, he is once again looking like the Cook of old, a consistent summer of run-making will see him fly up the rankings.
With a one-off ODI against Scotland, with a five-match ODI series with Australia before India arrive for the summer centrepiece, it is a chance for players involved in all three formats to make their claim at the top of the rankings.
To view more information about the MVP Rankings and view the current Overall MVP standings visit the MVP page.
Keep up-to-date with daily MVP news by following the rankings on Twitter.
