Steve Smith - The Best Cricketer of the Week

Movers

Virat Kohli - 41 - Despite a score that sees him outside the top 5 for points this week, Kohli still manages to jump two places. He moves up to 13th at the expense of Travis Head and Shubman Gill.

David Warner - 99 - Despite being the least pyrotechnic of the Aussie batsmen in their first ODI against India, Warner benefits the most. He moves into the Top 5 for the first time since January. Jason Holder drops out of the Top 5.

Aaron Finch - 164 - Finch averaged 35.67 per IPL game but looked a changed man in the first ODI against India. He moves up a place into 7th with Harmer moving down one.

Glenn Maxwell - 95 - The Big Show was back in town as Maxwell put his poor IPL form behind him to move into 11th place - overtaking Keshav Maharaj.

Weekly Top Five

1. Steve Smith - 175 - Smith enjoys the opening game of a tournament. After scoring 109 points in his first IPL game, he started to fade away. His Cricketer of the Week winning knock in the first ODI v India is most impressive but can he sustain this level of performance?

2. Aaron Finch - 164 - The Australia captain has an uncanny knack of pulling out a big performance when it is most needed of him. After an underwhelming IPL, he was back to his best here. One of only two players to increase their weekly average this week.

3. David Warner - 99 - Big things were expected of Warner after a successful IPL campaign. 99 is a decent score but looks under baked compared to other performances.

4. Glenn Maxwell - 95 - According to many Maxwell's position was at threat in this ODI series. I doubt if that is the case anymore. His middle order explosiveness pushed the game to unmanageable proportions for India.

5. Joe Root - 85 - It is perhaps ironic that the fifth highest score for the week came from a player who we all knew would not feature in the T20 series between England and South Africa. A score of 45 at a decent lick sees Root into fifth spot.

Yearly Top Five

1. Babar Azam - 3082 - Remains in top spot despite having not played this week. His lead on Stokes is now 203.

2. Ben Stokes - 2879 - A meagre 80 points from Stokes this week as he played second fiddle to Jonny Bairstow. He still eats into the deficit from top spot.

3. Joe Root - 2512 - Just the 85 points from a warm up game for Root. As the year draws in it is starting to look like third might be Root's eventual final score.

4. Lewis Gregory - 2248 - Suffered the indignity of scoring a pure 0 in the final intra-squad friendly. Hits his average score per week considerably (moving down to 124.89 from 132.24) - however he retains fourth spot for the year.

5. David Warner - 2167 - Warner has only been in the Top 5 once in 2020 but has moved back in just as the year comes to an end. A good antipodean Summer could see him make even more progress.

Week

Steve Smith - 175
Aaron Finch - 164
David Warner - 99
Glenn Maxwell - 95
Joe Root - 85
Ben Stokes- 80
Virat Kohli- 41
Tom Banton- 17
Kyle Abbott - 10
Martin Guptill- 5
Marnus Labuschagne- 2
Lewis Gregory - 0

Colin Ackermann- dnp
Babar Azam - dnp
Shubman Gill - dnp
Peter Handscomb - dnp
Simon Harmer - dnp
Travis Head- dnp
Jason Holder- dnp
Keshav Maharaj- dnp
Mohammad Nabi- dnp
Rohit Sharma- dnp

Overall

Babar Azam - 3082
Ben Stokes - 2879
Joe Root - 2512
Lewis Gregory - 2248
David Warner - 2167
Jason Holder- 2147
Aaron Finch - 2045
Simon Harmer - 1922
Marnus Labuschagne - 1857
Steve Smith - 1856
Glenn Maxwell - 1660
Keshav Maharaj - 1577
Virat Kohli - 1568
Travis Head - 1526
Shubman Gill - 1522
Martin Guptill - 1515
Mohammad Nabi - 1458
Colin Ackermann - 1435
Tom Banton - 1093
Rohit Sharma - 1035
Peter Handscomb - 617
Kyle Abbott - 10

Babar Azam - The Best Cricketer of the Week

Movers

Lewis Gregory - 122 - The Somerset man was long overdue an impressive England performance. He was the second highest points scorer on The List that played in yesterday's intra-squad game. He moves back up to fourth and overtakes Jason Holder.

Martin Guptill - 54 - The Auckland player has had a modest start to the Plunket Shield but he is moving back up The List again. He has overtaken Mohammad Nabi into 16th.

Weekly Top Five

1. Babar Azam - 238 - The Pakistan captain's T20 form sees him top the Weekly List once more. He has finished in top spot 5 times - the joint most with Ben Stokes.

2. Joe Root - 147 - The England Test captain has been out in the cold for a while - inexplicably becoming the Cricketer to have not played for the longest time this week - but returned with 77 and a wicket in the England Intra Squad game.

3. Lewis Gregory - 122 - Needed a good game to impress England selectors before the South Africa series. Three wickets represents his best reward in the shortest form for some while.

4. Ben Stokes - 70 - Seems an age since we last saw Stokes in England colours and 70 points overall is a modest total for his return. It is enough for fourth spot.

5. Martin Guptill - 54 - Another modest score for the Auckland man but enough to see him finish fifth for the week in what has been a low scoring week.

Yearly Top Five

1. Babar Azam - 3082 - Extends his lead at the top of the table to 283 points. This is his second consecutive week in first place after managing just one week five weeks ago.

2. Ben Stokes - 2799 - Back in action after a week's rest that saw him drop into second. He has not managed to regain top spot but has the South Africa series to try and push for the top of The List.

3. Joe Root - 2427 - back in action this week after seven weeks away. When he last played he was in top spot and has subsequently slipped to third. How high can he get before the end of the year?

4. Lewis Gregory - 2248 - Moves up a spot this week thanks to three wickets in the England intra squad game. His average active week score of 132.24 - a testament to the fact that he has played lots of slightly above average cricket this year.

5. Jason Holder - 2147 - Just the one week in fourth spot for Holder as he drops back down to fifth spot. He only has a 79 point lead on David Warner but will be back in action for the West Indies this week.

Week

Babar Azam - 238
Joe Root - 147
Lewis Gregory - 122
Ben Stokes - 70
Martin Guptill - 54
Tom Banton - 10

Kyle Abbott - dnp
Colin Ackermann- dnp
Aaron Finch- dnp
Shubman Gill - dnp
Peter Handscomb- dnp
Simon Harmer - dnp
Travis Head- dnp
Jason Holder - dnp
Virat Kohli- dnp
Marnus Labuschagne- dnp
Keshav Maharaj- dnp
Glenn Maxwell - dnp
Mohammad Nabi - dnp
Rohit Sharma - dnp
Steve Smith - dnp
David Warner - dnp

Overall

Babar Azam - 3082
Ben Stokes - 2799
Joe Root - 2427
Lewis Gregory - 2248
Jason Holder- 2147
David Warner - 2068
Simon Harmer - 1922
Aaron Finch - 1881
Marnus Labuschagne - 1855
Steve Smith - 1681
Keshav Maharaj - 1577
Glenn Maxwell - 1565
Travis Head - 1526
Shubman Gill - 1522
Virat Kohli - 1519
Martin Guptill - 1510
Mohammad Nabi - 1458
Colin Ackermann - 1435
Tom Banton - 1076
Rohit Sharma - 1035
Peter Handscomb - 617

Babar Azam - The Best Cricketer of the Week

(NB: This was written before Saturday morning's PSL game)

It's all well and good being one of the highest point scorer of 2020 when you have played the most cricket. That has been the message that I have been giving about Azam - up until this week. As he wins Cricketer of the Week for the fourth time, he also opens up a 115 point gap in first as he returns to the PSL for anything between one and three games. Babar's rise to the top has been long and patient. He did not register any points until Week 4 and was then silent for a further 6 weeks before he broke into the top top ten. From there he has plodded up the table in a workmanlike fashion that does not fit his approach to batting. It is notable that Azam has only gone backwards on the List on two occasions throughout the whole of the year. This could be down to the sheer amount of cricket the new Pakistan Test captain has played this year. This has been his 21st active week in 2020 - three more than Tom Banton, Steve Smith and Aaron Finch in second. For a long period of time it was this high amount of cricket that benefitted his position. At the start of September Azam's average points per active week stood at 94.64. This was the fourth lowest of any active player on our list. Since then his spell playing domestic cricket and the home series against Zimbabwe has seen him now with the eleventh highest - 135.43. This puts him in amongst the Labuschagnes and Holders of this world. As we approach the end of the year there is still cricket to be played for both Babar and Ben. We should see a dog fight until the bitter end - but we can confidently say that Azam deserves his place.

And it's not just the top of the table where there is a battle of supremacy. There is very little between the whole of our middle band of players on the list. This has been best exemplified this week by Keshav Maharaj. Despite only scoring 150 points, the spinner jumped up a ridiculous six places - from seventeenth to eleventh. There is just 142 points between Maharaj in 11th and Colin Ackermann in 19th. To put this into perspective there is a gap of 989 between 1st and 9th. This means that it's all to play for in those middle positions. Maharaj deserves his surge up the table. However it seems a week too late. The Saffer was joint with Peter Handscomb as the two players who had to wait the longest to return to cricket after lockdown. The pair had to wait 32 weeks without a game. It was the bowler who impressed the most on return with 7 wickets in the opening fixture of the 4-Day Franchise Series. His 257 points and third place finish for the week only saw him move from 18th to 17th. This week, his more humble tally of three wickets and 150 points sees him move up six spots. It's a funny old game. Further progression up the table is possible but will not come as easily. To overtake Steve Smith and move into the top ten, Maharaj will need 104 points - however ninth place Aaron Finch is 278 points away. Both Aussies will play instrumental parts in the closing weeks of the year. Maharaj is proving that it is all very much to play for even if you were out the game for a while.

A more exciting end to the IPL would have been more ideal - however many of our players would be most pleased with their seasons. The most eye-catching pair on our list did not even make the final. In terms of raw numbers it was David Warner who profited the most. His 974 points throughout the competition was 204 greater than Shubman Gill in second. He scored the most runs and got the most points for fielding than any of our eleven players. He also had the third highest average points per game - 60.86. This was the highest average for a player who featured in all games. In a weird quirk - despite the huge amount of cricket played - only two players weekly average for 2020 improved. Warner was one of those with his average going up by the grandiose 2.86 points per active week of cricket. He is currently 14th on that particular metric with 114.89 points a week. Turning to the main list, he benefitted the most there too. He started the competition in 15th place and ended in sixth. Not bad going. The player that made the greatest impact on our list was inarguably Jason Holder. Despite playing just seven games, his 456 points was enough to see him finish above Glenn Maxwell who got 238 from 13 and Aaron Finch who got 428 from 12. He finished with the most wickets with eleven more than Maxwell. What is more impressive is the West Indian's average. He finished with the highest average of any player with 65.14 points a game. At no point during the tournament did his points per game average drop below 50. This has seen him move up a further one place on the table into fourth overall. More importantly than this, come the next round of IPL auctions you can bet your bottom dollar Holder will be the hottest property.

Week


Babar Azam - 233
Peter Handscomb- 181
Keshav Maharaj - 150
Rohit Sharma - 108
Marnus Labuschagne- 74
Travis Head - 47
Jason Holder- 31
David Warner - 2


Kyle Abbott - dnp
Colin Ackermann- dnp
Tom Banton - dnp
Aaron Finch- dnp
Shubman Gill - dnp
Martin Guptill- dnp
Lewis Gregory - dnp
Simon Harmer - dnp
Virat Kohli - dnp
Glenn Maxwell - dnp
Mohammad Nabi- dnp
Joe Root- dnp
Steve Smith - dnp
Ben Stokes - dnp


Overall


Babar Azam - 2844
Ben Stokes - 2729
Joe Root - 2286
Jason Holder- 2147
Lewis Gregory - 2126
David Warner - 2068
Simon Harmer - 1922
Aaron Finch - 1881
Marnus Labuschagne - 1855
Steve Smith - 1681
Keshav Maharaj - 1577
Glenn Maxwell - 1565
Travis Head - 1526
Shubman Gill - 1522
Virat Kohli - 1519
Mohammad Nabi - 1458
Martin Guptill - 1456
Colin Ackermann - 1435
Tom Banton - 1066
Rohit Sharma - 1035
Peter Handscomb - 617

Babar Azam - The Best Cricketer of the Week

 It's all well and good with your IPL but two of the best performances this week did not come from the UAE but from Rawalpindi and Adelaide. First off we have our Cricketer of the Week - Babar Azam whose 292 points is the eleventh highest score of the year. The Pakistan superstar has the eighth and eleventh highest weekly score of 2020 alongside the lowest (130). His two mega performances sees him win player of the series - but many will question the quality of opposition. Due to the skulduggery of the ICC scheduling system it is rare for any of our players to face off against Zimbabwe. This is just the sixth time any one on our List has had a fixture versus The Chevrons. These six performances encompass only four players: Shakib Al Hasan and Rashid Khan who have played them twice and Aaron Finch and Babar Azam who have played them the once. In terms of raw score, Azam's 292 is second after Rashid Khan's 328 against Zimbabwe in February 2018. That big total encompassed three ODIs compared to Azam's two. This means, on average, Rashid got 109.33 points per ODI whilst Azam got 146 this week. Azam was playing against a weak opponent but he played the best against that opponent than any of the players we have ever seen on our Lists over the last three years. And there is more to come. There is now three T20s. Babar finds himself in second position for the third week in a row but is just 118 points off Stokes in first. This is the first year we are seeing a real battle for supremacy at the top of the table. By the first week of November in 2018 Simon Harmer had a 1032 point lead on Rashid Khan, with Glenn Maxwell being 738 clear of Harmer last year. So whose side are you on; Azam or Stokes?

Travis Head must be overjoyed with his early performances in the Sheffield Shield. Justin Langer maybe less so. The Australia coach has an embarrassment of batsmen. Head has given him an ache with two centuries in the first three rounds of fixtures. Head was one of the players that was most effected by the Covid break; this week is only his tenth active week of 2020. Only Keshav Maharaj, Peter Handscomb (9 each) and Harmer and Colin Ackermann (8 each) have had less cricket this year. At the end of last year's Shield the Redback captain was riding high in eighth place with 901 points. The next time he picked up his bat in anger, four weeks ago, he had slumped to 19th. The long respite doesn't seem to have effected him at all as he has earned 538 points over the last month. This has seen him move up to 14th position. His total this week was boosted with 50 points for his bowling thanks to the wicket of Nic Maddinson and an economy of 5.21. A pretty useful week all told. Head finishes in the top five for the third week out of the last four and is now 40 points behind Virat Kohli. The Indian isn't playing as much cricket as he'd like over the next few days so it's likely that Head may overtake him. That Kohli vs Head battle may continue when they face off against each other in Adelaide in the First Test in December.

The T20 journey of Jason Holder has been rocky over the last few months. Like Rocky, it seems that the big man may prevail in the end. You may have ended the CPL thinking the West Indian Test captain was something of a busted flush in the shortest form of the game. He was out of the T20 national side and failed to impress with either bat or ball in his home tournament. He finished 12th on the run table and 15th for most wickets. Decent but nothing to boast about from the ICC's top rated All Rounder. If you compared him to Mohammad Nabi, the other player we had playing in the tournament, he came off second best. The Afghan All Rounder scored more points than him with more wickets at a better economy and more points from fielding. Then Holder was expecting a period of time in the cricketing wilderness. Until the injury of Mitchell Marsh and his call up for Hyderabad. Here we have many more players to compare Holder to - and the outcome is much more favourable for the Barbadian. After 6 games, Holder has scored 425 points - averaging 70.83. This is the highest for any of the 11 players from our List in this year's IPL. Three of his six performances have been in the top third of all points totals for players in our List. None of his performances have been in the bottom third. It is no coincidence that Hyderabad's fortunes pivoted the moment they dropped Bairstow for the West Indian. He is well worth his re-entry into the top 5. With at least one more game guaranteed and just 10 points off fourth position you would imagine the only way is up.

Week


Babar Azam - 292
Jason Holder - 270
Keshav Maharaj- 257
Travis Head - 230
Marnus Labuschagne- 187
David Warner - 180
Virat Kohli- 72
Shubman Gill - 66
Peter Handscomb- 55
Aaron Finch - 52
Ben Stokes - 28
Rohit Sharma - 14
Steve Smith- 14


Kyle Abbott - dnp
Colin Ackermann- dnp
Tom Banton - dnp
Lewis Gregory - dnp
Martin Guptill- dnp
Simon Harmer - dnp
Glenn Maxwell - dnp
Mohammad Nabi - dnp
Joe Root - dnp


Overall


Ben Stokes - 2729
Babar Azam - 2611
Joe Root - 2286
Lewis Gregory - 2126
Jason Holder- 2116
David Warner - 2066
Simon Harmer - 1922
Aaron Finch - 1881
Marnus Labuschagne - 1781
Steve Smith - 1681
Glenn Maxwell - 1565
Shubman Gill - 1522
Virat Kohli - 1519
Travis Head - 1479
Mohammad Nabi - 1458
Martin Guptill - 1456
Keshav Maharaj - 1427
Colin Ackermann - 1435
Tom Banton - 1066
Rohit Sharma - 927
Peter Handscomb - 438