Strauss tops Test MVP

Andrew Strauss scored three hundreds against West Indies to take the MVP lead

The thrilling climax to the Trinidad Test had significant ramifications not just for the two teams concerned and their respective sets of supporters but also for this year's Test MVP campaign.

One more wicket for James Anderson would have seen him hold on to the top position he has occupied all year, but ultimately it was Andrew Strauss who timed his run for the line to perfection to win by a solitary point.

Strauss' 142 in the first innings was his fifth hundred in 11 innings, ensuring he finished the year as England's leading run-scorer.

The captain scored 1,239 runs, including six hundreds, the first of which helped steer England to victory against New Zealand at Old Trafford back in May.

Strauss succeeds Ryan Sidebottom, who was crowned Test MVP after England's tour to New Zealand this time last year.

Anderson was heroic in Trinidad as he had been for much of the year in Test cricket.

He opened up a huge gap after the home internationals against New Zealand and South Africa and was still 47 points in front after the Chennai Test, where Strauss recorded a century in each innings.

But some flat pitches away from home tipped the balance in favour of the batsmen and he found wickets harder to come by in the West Indies.

Anderson was left out of the first Test in Jamaica, which was played on the most bowler-friendly surface of the series, yet by the end of the series he was once again the captain's main bowler as England pushed for victory.

James Anderson battled on flat pitches in West Indies but could not hang on to the Test top spot

Thirty-four of his 47 Test wickets in this year's campaign were taken at home, which tells its own story.

Kevin Pietersen, who maintains his lead at the top of the overall MVP after a powerful hundred in the second innings in Trinidad, finished in third spot in the Test MVP.

Pietersen cemented his reputation as one of the best batsmen in the world by scoring 402 runs in the West Indies series. His 102 in the last Test was his only century of the series but came off just 92 balls and represented 43% of the team's total.

Pietersen finished second behind Strauss in the Test run-scorers list with 1,162 Test runs for the year, including five hundreds. Across all forms of the game he has 1,697 runs with two further hundreds.

Stuart Broad continued his impressive start to his England career finishing fourth in the Test MVP.

The Nottinghamshire bowling all-rounder took 12 wickets in the West Indies taking his tally for the year in Tests to 29 in addition to 375 runs, which included three consecutive half-centuries against New Zealand and South Africa.

Broad's best return was 5-85 in Jamaica and like Anderson he toiled away admirably all tour.

Across all forms he has scored 451 runs and taken 55 wickets, which sees him second in the overall MVP, 18 points behind Pietersen with five ODIs and the Twenty20 international to come.