Broad named as England's one-day MVP

Stuart Broad has been England’s most valuable player in one-day international cricket over the last five years, according to analysis by the Professional Cricketers’ Association.

The Nottinghamshire all-rounder is over 100 points clear of his nearest playing rival Jimmy Anderson in the FTI MVP Rankings, which compare the performances of the team in all forms of the game. He has also taken 20 more wickets than his fellow opening bowler since the ranking list's inception and contributed almost four times as many runs.

Fresh from captaining England to victory in the t20 international against West Indies, Broad will be raring to go in the forthcoming series against Australia. And his Nottinghamshire coach Mick Newell believes the tourists will be all too aware of his status as their host’s lynchpin in the battles ahead.

Newell said: “Stuart has matured into one of the finest bowlers in the world in all types of cricket and has made great strides in the limited overs game in particular. He is obviously valuable with the ball as one of England’s main strike bowlers, but his contribution in the field and with the bat are equally important to the make-up of the team.

“As his recent promotion to captaincy of the t20 side has shown he is also now capable of contributing strategically, which will help his team-mates too. He and England will need to be at their very best when they take on the Aussies, who are themselves top of the rankings in one-day cricket, but they too will know they’re up against it.”

Broad’s career-best performance in the FTI MVPs came in August 2008 on his home ground at Trent Bridge against South Africa, who return to England later this summer.

The then 22-year-old produced a withering spell of fast bowling, returning 5 for 23 in a ten over spell that included three maidens. Four of his victims were top order batsmen, helping him record 32.27 ranking points, and ensured the tourists were skittled for just 83 runs.

Kieron Smith, Senior Vice-President, FTI Consulting, said: “Using the FTI MVP rankings to analyse how a player has performed over recent times is a far better reflection of their contribution to the team than the old method of using averages to ascertain a player’s standing. I am pleased that the ranking system has become a very useful tool for county and international coaches.”

England’s increasing strength in ODI cricket as they build towards the 2015 World Cup is reflected in them recording twice as many series victories as defeats (14 compared to 7) against the major nations since the tournament in Sri Lanka in 2007.

The top five players in the FTI MVPs have passed 500 points since then. But with Paul Collingwood still at No 2 and recently retired Kevin Pietersen at No 5 on the all-time list, a new generation will need to meet the challenge.
 

Date: 27/06/2012 15:49:41 by PHiscock
In: Today | Nottinghamshire | England |