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After two months away from the format, England start their 50-over season on Friday.
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England take on Ireland in Dublin this Friday in a one-off One Day International which sees the England PCA Most Valuable Player Rankings reset for the biggest summer of cricket for a generation.
The game is the first of eight 50-over fixtures that the squad will squeeze in before the much-anticipated ICC Cricket World Cup begins at the Kia Oval on Thursday 30 May.
With the return of ODI cricket comes the return of the ODI MVP Rankings. Captain Eoin Morgan currently holds the crown, taking home the winter MVP title after a series of stellar performances helped England to their tenth consecutive unbeaten ODI series in the West Indies in March. The big-hitting batsman accrued 110 MVP points – 32 more than his closest rival Adil Rashid.
The MVP formula was specifically designed to reward match-winning performances, giving a more accurate reflection of the top performers than traditional batting or bowling averages.
Hitting runs quickly or making a century in a low-scoring encounter will gain a batsman extra points, as will taking top order wickets for bowlers. Points are also given for catches, run-outs and stumpings, and there are bonuses for captains and players who end up on the winning team.
The tables is reset before the start of every summer and winter cricket season, giving an Overall MVP twice per year as well as the individual format award.
Two players who will be particularly keen to make their mark on the Rankings this summer are Jofra Archer and Chris Jordan.
The Sussex fast bowler has an English father and has recently qualified to represent his country after completing his residency period in the UK. Despite making a reputation as a T20 specialist, Archer has been confirmed to debut in the ODI against Ireland by Morgan and will hope to make a case for World Cup selection before the final squad has to be confirmed on May 22.
Jordan, Archer’s Sussex teammate, has been somewhat usurped by the rise of his friend and colleague. However, the Barbados-born man recently played himself back into World Cup contention with some fine bowling and fielding performances against the West Indies in March’s T20I series.
Elsewhere, Middlesex’s Dawid Malan and Surrey’s Ben Foakes will also make their first ODI caps in an England shirt against Ireland. Hampshire batsman James Vince will be looking to make the most of the unexpected opportunity presented to him by the absence of Alex Hales to stake a claim for a position in the final World Cup 15.
England’s squad members will have at least 15 fixtures to rise up the MVP Rankings this summer, and potentially 19 should their World Cup campaign prove successful.
A five-match series against Pakistan follows the Ireland game, before two designated World Cup warm-ups against Australia and Afghanistan, which are not official ODIs. England will then play nine fixtures in the round robin stage of the World Cup, coming up against every team in the competition as a result of its newly revised format.
Every member of the England squad will be particularly keen to end the country’s biggest ever summer of ODI cricket at the top of the PCA’s MVP Ranking.
View the MVP Rankings here.
Keep up-to-date with all the latest MVP news by following the @pcaMVP on Twitter.
