Moeen Ali and Heather Knight have won the 2021/22 IT20 and Test MVPs respectively after they moved to the top of the PCA MVP Rankings during a thrilling week of international cricket for both the England men’s and women’s sides.
Moeen, who stepped in to lead his side for the final three IT20s against the West Indies after usual skipper Eoin Morgan was ruled out through injury, topped the IT20 MVP with 113.4 MVP points this winter at an average of 10.3 points-per-game.
The destructive all-rounder enjoyed an excellent series in the Caribbean, returning five wickets with an economy rate of just 7.15, and smashing 108 runs at a strike rate of 146 before England were edged out 3-2 in the series decider on Sunday.
With no further IT20 fixtures scheduled for this winter, the 34-year-old has been confirmed as the 20-over MVP for 2021/22 on the back of his performances in the West Indies and during the ICC T20 World Cup late last year.
Moeen succeeds fellow all-rounder Liam Livingstone, who won the IT20 MVP last summer after scoring a massive 92.4 MVP points during six appearances against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
Other big MVP movers this week include opening batters Jason Roy and Tom Banton. Roy, who was England’s top run-scorer in the series with 130 runs at the same strike rate, finishes third in the IT20 MVP with 90 MVP points, and only Jos Buttler (85.9) scored more batting MVP points than the big-hitter’s 71 this winter.
Meanwhile, Banton enjoyed his return to the international side in scoring 122 series runs at 156, including a majestic 73 in the third fixture in Bridgetown. The youngster, who did not feature in England’s T20 World Cup campaign, finishes eighth in the IT20 MVP but only Buttler (17.5) and Moeen (10.3) averaged more than Banton’s 9.74 MVP points-per-game this winter.
In the bowling department, Adil Rashid has been England’s outstanding performer in the shortest format this winter. The leg-spinner produced yet again in Barbados, stifling the West Indies in the middle overs by returning seven series wickets at an economy rate of just 5.75.
Rashid finishes the winter as England’s highest-ranked specialist bowler in the IT20 MVP, his 81.5 MVP points from 11 appearances enough to boost him into fourth position.
England’s only remaining fixtures this winter are three Test Matches against the same opposition throughout March, meaning we will find out who has won the Test and cross-format Overall MVP at the end of that month.
Buttler is currently in pole position in the Overall MVP, which aggregates MVP points scored across all formats, with 133 points, whilst fast bowler Mark Wood leads the Test MVP after scoring 82.7 points during the 2021/22 Ashes.
Magnificent Knight leads by example
England Women captain Heather Knight led from the front as she produced a magnificent individual performance during the only Ashes Test in Canberra to win the Test MVP and move top of the Overall table.
The all-rounder scored a huge 54.7 points during the four-day fixture in the Australian capital, enough to earn her the MVP of the Match award after a classic Ashes encounter between the two sides.
Responding to the hosts’ 337-9 dec, England slipped to 169-8 before a 100-run stand between Knight and number 10 Sophie Ecclestone helped the Three Lions to finish on 297, Knight making an unbeaten 168 which accounted for 57% of her side’s competitive total.
With England requiring an unlikely record 257 to win from 48 overs, Knight displayed her versatility by striking a quickfire 48 from 54 balls in search of a famous win, but it wasn’t to be as England agonizingly fell 12 runs short to draw the match with one wicket remaining.
Knight is the 2021/22 Test MVP after being the top performer in England’s only fixture in the format this winter, and she will aim to make further headway in both the Overall and ODI MVPs during the remainder of this Ashes series and the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup which begins in New Zealand in March.
Another England great, fast bowler Katherine Brunt, enjoyed a match to remember in Canberra as she moved into second position in both the Test and Overall MVPs.
Match figures of 8-84, including a third Test five-fer in the first innings, boosted the 36-year-old to 37.8 MVP points for the fixture. Brunt’s 39.5 bowling MVP points across all formats this winter are now comfortably the most of any England player, almost 23 clear of off-spinner Ecclestone (16.6).
Nat Sciver (29.5 Test MVP points), Ecclestone (11.5) and Sophia Dunkley (11.3) complete the Test MVP top five behind Knight and Brunt, whilst Danni Wyatt replaces Dunkley in the cross-format Overall MVP table.
The MVP Rankings were designed by the PCA in conjunction with CricViz and the players to identify the top performers in the game from a statistical point of view.
Bespoke algorithms for both the red-ball and white-ball game are designed to highlight key contributions which have the biggest impact on individual fixtures.
At the conclusion of both England men’s and women’s 2021/22 winter schedule, an MVP will be named in each format for both teams, as well as two Overall MVPs who have been the best players across all formats.
Find out more about the PCA MVP Rankings and view the England tables.
Follow @pcaMVP on Twitter to keep up-to-date with all the latest MVP news.
