The more fatalist amongst us may believe that, in times of
crisis, a hero emerges, Batman-like to save the day. The day after new Australian
captain Tim Paine pledged to create an “environment where guys can come in and play
cricket and just be themselves” it is perhaps fitting that the cricketer of the
week goes to an Australian player who has been doing that for as long as he has
been in the team. If you are looking for the sort of player to model the new
Australian team on, Nathan Lyon might just be the guy for you. A guy who began
at (very literally) grassroots level and has gone on to be one of the best
spinners in Australian cricket history might find himself part of a leadership
group that he appeared to not be part of in recent weeks. In the most turbulent
of times he is a dependable figure. As all was falling around him during the
third day of the third Test, Lyon did what he does best – and more. As well as
claiming a five wicket haul he also bagged 47 late order runs from 58 balls in
the first innings. He got out for a duck in the second innings – one of the
toughest and most exposing team innings I can remember in Test cricket –
however we are likely to see him continue as an ever more important part of
this Australian cricket set up. His yield of 287 points sees him soar up the
overall table and into fourth place – the highest Australian in the rankings.
To say that Jeetan Patel has also shot up the table is
something of an understatement. For the longest period of time the veteran New
Zealand bowler remained stagnant on 108 points . From there he has jumped into a
four figure total quicker than any other player on our list. This is best shown
in the below graph which shows just how his trajectory has been.
A similar trend can be seen in his position in our 24 man
league. He debuted in week 2 with a 17th place position, then
dropped to bottom place with two players yet to play, He remained in this
bottom position until Week 11 when he finished top of the pile and jumped up to
22nd. Last week he jumped up
to 12th and now he sits in 9th position – one place above
his ex-international team mate Kane Williamson. This burst up the table has
come off the back of three matches where he has got at least a fivefer in every
match.
Patel sits one place below a player whose fate has worked in
an exact opposite trajectory. Indian superstar Virat Kohli sits in a very
pretty 8th position in our overall chart – despite the fact that he
has not played a game for the last week. So impressive was his January and
February form that he had such a lead on the pack that over a month off has not
had too much of an effect on his position. A similar points based chart to
Jeets’ tells this tale.
Just as it seems he might drop out of our top ten, the
Indian captain will soon be soon be back in the red of Royal Challengers
Bangalore and working his way back up the table.
This post will have to prove something of an obituary for at
least two players. It is unclear as to whether Steve Smith and David Warner
will get another point this calendar year so their totals this week may remain
for the rest of the competition. Rather fittingly, both players remain side by
side in the league, even if they do not stand united after the dust has settled
on Sandpaper Gate. In terms of points scored, both players had one of their
better totals in recent weeks. Steve Smith’s 72 was his best total for three
weeks – despite the fact that 60 of his points came from fielding points. David
Warner, in perhaps his last ever display in a baggy green, finished his first
innings with a combative 28 ball 30. Aggressive to the last. Their respective
totals of 706 and 752 puts them in 17th and 18th – but will
probably be the two lowest scores by the end of the year.
Week
Nathan Lyon - 287
Dean Elgar - 225
AB De Villiers - 217
Jeetan Patel - 217
Kane Williamson - 152
Joe Root - 121
Quinton de Kock - 118
David Warner - 102
Mitchell Marsh - 101
Hashim Amla - 72
Steve Smith- 72
George Bailey - 71
Simon Harmer - 63
Rashid Khan - 40
Shaun Marsh - 26
JP Duminy - 12
Shakib Al Hasan - dnp
Ravi Ashwin - dnp
Jofra Archer - dnp
Jos Buttler - dnp
Aaron Finch- dnp
Ravi Jadeja - dnp
Virat Kohli - dnp
Sunil Narine - dnp
Overall
Rashid Khan - 2078
Simon Harmer - 2011
JP Duminy - 1671
Nathan Lyon - 1512
Sunil Narine- 1450
Joe Root - 1429
Mitchell Marsh - 1346
Virat Kohli- 1231
Jeetan Patel - 1101
Kane Williamson -1058
Jos Buttler - 1026
Aaron Finch - 999
AB De Villiers- 995
Ravi Ashwin - 878
Quinton de Kock - 788
Dean Elgar- 782
David Warner - 752
Steve Smith - 706
Hashim Amla - 670
Shakib Al Hasan - 662
George Bailey - 631
Jofra Archer - 550
Shaun Marsh- 532
Ravi Jadeja - 412
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