In order to succeed in our list you need to run like a train; regular, persistent and accurate. Last year Rashid Khan was working like a train that Mussolini would have been proud of. Five Cricketer of the Week awards were spread throughout the year as the Afghanistani sensation travelled the world dazzling his opponents. This year Rashid's gravy train has rather dried up. This week has seen a revival back to something like his best form however it is too little and too late to call this anything close to a success but it does lend us a glimpse of what used to be. This is most evident in his second to last game of the season where he excelled with bat and ball and achieved something that eluded him throughout 2019 - points for his economy. Throughout 2018, Rashid would more often than not couple regular wickets with strangling economy; this has not been the case this year however, raging against the dying of the light, he has shown us a glimpse of what used to be. His 271 points this week makes him one of two players to overtake Rohit Sharma to settle in 6th place for the season - overtaking Stokes in the very last game of the season. When he walked out at number 7 he needed 15 runs to haul Stokes in. He took just nine balls to reach that landmark - eventually out for an eighteen ball 40. As the Rashid express draws out of the station, it is not behind the realms of possibility we may see him in the 2021 list. There is light at the end of the tunnel.
The year has been won by Glenn Maxwell. And nobody would begrudge him the victory. The Australian has been leading our overall List since Week 9 and has done so representing Australia, Lancashire and Melbourne Renegades. For a player to have been so dominant throughout a year without having to resort to hit-and-hope T20 competitions is impressive indeed. His lead of 895 points ahead of Simon Harmer has been hovering over the 1000 point mark since the Summer, however once seemed in threat. When Maxwell announced that he was stepping away from cricket for an indeterminate period of time, his lead on the South African was 738. With the Mzansi Super League about to swing into action, many expected Simon Harmer to be destructive for his Johannesburg outfit much as he was last year. This failed to come to pass as both Harmer and his franchise looked stilted throughout the competition eventually leading to Harmer being dropped from the team that he used to captain. The closest he managed to get to our runaway leader was 597 points just prior to his deselection. When Maxwell returned to his own home T20 competition and The Big Show proved he was still worth the admission fee, it truly was game over. A well deserved winner and another strong contender in 2020 - after all, it is a T20 World Cup year.
Several of our Cricketers have leapt away from their previous position this week as if they were bachelors just before the stroke of midnight, leaping away from their less favoured partners and towards more appealing options before the stroke of midnight. Rashid was just one of six Cricketers to move up the overall list. Most significantly so was Ben Stokes, who yet again was the stand out performer in an under strength England side and managed to accrue 226 points across a warm up game and the first Test against South Africa. Not good enough to lead his team to another miraculous victory but enough to see him overtake Rohit Sharma to take 6th position in his first year on our list. He was not the only Englishman to manoeuvre an Indian out of position just before the final reckoning. Bairstow has had a poor year with only a strong IPL outing being something for the Yorkshireman to hang his hat on. There is a clamour for the Englishman to be given a spell away from the national side - something that was in the offing before the sickness bug debilitated the squad - and his nine runs has not changed many people's minds. It was, however, just enough for him to pip Shreyas Iyer, who himself had a disappointing week comprising of just 7 runs against West Indies. It is not all doom and gloom for our Indian contingent as two of their number also made an upward move this week. Shubman Gill's hundred for Punjab in the Ranji Trophy saw him leap three places and finish 16th in our 24 man list. Kuldeep Yadav's year has been a disappointment and this week is no different. The Indian spinner added just 10 points to his total from the final ODI against the West Indies however this was enough to see him overtake Abdur Razzak and finish 21st for the year. The other mover was Callum Ferguson whose strong second half to the season sees him finish 14th.
Week
Rashid Khan - 351
Ben Stokes - 226
Mohammad Abbas - 190
Glenn Maxwell - 155
Shubman Gill - 140
Jos Buttler - 126
Virat Kohli - 125
Joe Root - 119
Callum Ferguson - 102
Jonny Bairstow - 98
Rohit Sharma - 83
Shai Hope - 72
Joe Burns - 55
Kane Williamson - 19
Kuldeep Yadav - 10
Shreyas Iyer - 7
Shakib Al Hasan - dnp
Simon Harmer - dnp
Jack Leach - dnp
Morne Morkel- dnp
Duanne Olivier - dnp
Wayne Parnell - dnp
Jeetan Patel - dnp
Abdur Razzak- dnp
Overall
Glenn Maxwell - 6010
Simon Harmer - 5115
Jeetan Patel - 4813
Virat Kohli- 4554
Joe Root- 4542
Rashid Khan - 4475
Ben Stokes - 4410
Rohit Sharma - 4308
Shakib Al Hasan -3862
Jonny Bairstow - 3836
Shreyas Iyer - 3796
Jos Buttler - 3245
Duanne Olivier - 3021
Callum Ferguson - 2999
Shai Hope - 2991
Shubman Gill - 2838
Kane Williamson - 2810
Morne Morkel - 2760
Wayne Parnell - 2743
Jack Leach - 2598
Mohammad Abbas - 2339
Kuldeep Yadav - 1930
Abdur Razzak- 1925
Joe Burns - 1750
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