Joe Root - The Best Cricketer of the Week

Using a single week of this Summer as a springboard for future success has proved something of a difficult thing for anyone. Last week I said that Virat Kohli's dominance of Joe Root was something of an embarrassment and that the Indian captain's 265 could be a sign of big things to come. Fast forward seven days and it is Joe Root who sits top of the tree after executing a 268 point swing that saw the England Test captain overtake both his Indian counterpart and Aaron Finch and move into sixth place. It has been a disappointing year for Root and one week does not redress that but if Adil Rashid's career can turn on one ball then the infinitely more talented Root can change his year in one week. Something I used to talk about fairly regularly at the beginning of these posts was the fact that these points could prove a barometer for who really was the best young batting captain out of Root, Kohli, Williamson and Smith. With Smith having been knocked out of the equation it is interesting that, with over half the year gone and despite the relatively poor form he has been in, it is Root who sits above his two rivals . With the hoodoo of not being able to convert fifties into centuries seemingly broken and a decent T20 Blast game to boost his confidence, this Summer could be the chance for him to underline that supremacy in permanent marker. 

The long awaited return of Kane Williamson has been something of an anti-climax. Having been absent from cricket since the IPL final six weeks ago, his return to Yorkshire has been anticipated by fans of the White Rose, New Zealanders and Williamson alike. His yield of just six points from the truncated T20 Blast game against Lancashire will not have been the display that anyone desired but the Kiwi's visits to God's country are often fruitful and he will be hopeful of keeping up with the pace in the top ten whilst aiming to boost his side up the Division One Table. For one four-day game he will join up with Cricketer of the Week Joe Root in what is a tantalising advert for the English county game. 

Following two weeks of impeccable form that saw him top the Weekly tables for a fortnight, Aaron Finch was finally beaten.....by rain. In the abandoned game against Kent, the Surrey batsman posted 83 off 38 balls - enough to give him at least 143 points, keep his lead on Joe Root and continue a very strong month for the Victorian but, as the rain washed out the Spitfire ground so too did it wash away Finch's chance of continued domination. This does not diminish Finch's achievements. If you include the abandoned 83 from Thursday, Finch has scored 662 runs at a strike rate of 95 in his nine matches since the end of the IPL. With games against Somerset, Glamorgan and Middlesex forthcoming Finch will be itching to get bat in hand again to ensure his hot streak continues. 

Finch was the first back to back winner of the best Cricketer of the Week award since Shakib Al Hasan did it in January - but since then the Bangladesh captain has been rather subdued ...until this week. Despite West Indies humiliating crushing of his national side, the captain can feel very proud of his contributions in the second Test with figures of 6/33 in the second innings and a combined total of 86 runs. The 381 points accrued by the Magura born man are his highest achieved in 2018. It also sees him the biggest mover of the week on the overall table - rising to eleventh from fourteenth. 

Would there be any more fitting an end to Smith and Warner's foray into Canadian cricket than the two exiled Australians having gained no further ground on each other and scoring the exact same points? Last week I said that Warner would be the narrow winner due to the fact that his Winnipeg Hawks team were playing in the final but Warner had the most spectacular zero point game of 2018 to mean that both he and Smith gain 259 points in the competition. This means there is still 46 points between them and that their tournament has comprised of drawing marginally away from George Bailey and marginally towards Ravi Jadeja. 

Week

Joe Root - 424 
Shakib Al Hasan - 381
Jofra Archer - 381
Virat Kohli- 156
Jos Buttler - 80
Jeetan Patel - 60
Simon Harmer - 48
Ravi Ashwin - 30
Kane Williamson - 6
David Warner - 0 
Hashim Amla- dnp 
George Bailey - dnp 
Quinton de Kock- dnp 
AB De Villiers- dnp 
JP Duminy- dnp 
Dean Elgar - dnp 
Aaron Finch- dnp 
Ravi Jadej - dnp 
Rashid Khan - dnp 
Nathan Lyon - dnp 
Mitchell Marsh- dnp 
Shaun Marsh - dnp 
Sunil Narine - dnp 
Steve Smith - dnp 


Overall

Simon Harmer - 4298
Jeetan Patel - 3582
Rashid Khan - 3463
Jos Buttler - 3301
Sunil Narine- 2974
Joe Root - 2691
Aaron Finch - 2689
Virat Kohli- 2651
Kane Williamson -2411
Jofra Archer - 2214
Shakib Al Hasan - 2054
AB De Villiers- 2010
Nathan Lyon - 1833
Ravi Ashwin - 1820
JP Duminy - 1737
Hashim Amla - 1667
Dean Elgar- 1594
Shaun Marsh- 1498
Mitchell Marsh - 1425
Quinton de Kock - 1387
Ravi Jadeja - 1201
David Warner - 1011
Steve Smith - 965
George Bailey - 631