Photo Credit: Professional Cricketers’ Association
Southern Brave and Gloucestershire all-rounders claim August Player of the Month awards.
Gloucestershire’s Ollie Price and Southern Brave’s Georgia Adams have been voted PCA Players of the Month for August thanks to some great form in domestic cricket.
The pair were shortlisted through the PCA’s Most Valuable Player Rankings, powered by Argentex, for their performances in the month of August as the top four players according to the unique algorithm in the men’s and women’s game faced a public vote to determine the winners.
In the women’s category, Adams won with 37% of the vote with Southern Brave teammate Danni Wyatt in second on 28%. Trent Rockets’ Nat Sciver-Brunt occupied third place with The Hundred Women’s Player of the Year winner Marizanne Kapp in fourth. Adams joins Jodi Grewcock, and South East Stars trio of Paige Scholfield, Phoebe Franklin and Bryony Smith as players of the Month winners in 2023.
For the men’s award, Price also won with 37% of the vote with Leicestershire all-rounder Wiaan Mulder in second on 28%. Warwickshire all-rounder Ed Barnard and Hampshire and London Spirit’s Liam Dawson took third and fourth place respectively. Price joins Paul Walter, Matt Critchley, Matthew Montgomery and Ryan Higgins as Player of the Month winners this year.
Adams wins August PCA Player of the Month
Southern Brave all-rounder Adams has won August’s award having been nominated for three months in succession.
The 29-year-old scored 136 runs at an average of 22.7, whilst taking an incredible 16 wickets to finish as The Hundred’s leading wicket-taker.
Figures of 2-22 and 40 off 24 balls against Fire and an unbeaten 50 off 32 balls and 1-23 against Invincibles earned her two Match MVP awards and highlighted her all-round prowess.
The 2023 Charlotte Edwards Cup Player of the Year scored 27 in the final of The Hundred as Brave won the tournament.
Adams described her surprise at winning the award as she was up against Wyatt, Sciver-Brunt and Kapp.
“I was actually really thankful because I was nominated with three legends of the game, so I’m over the moon with winning it. I didn’t have any expectation to win this one.
“The amount of wickets was a bit unexpected really but it’s been great to contribute in The Hundred with the ball as well. I knew I was going to get a bit more opportunity with Southern Brave but the last thing I was expecting was to lead the wicket taking list. How Anya (Shrubsole) captained, it helped me because she has a sixth sense about when to bowl certain people.
“I haven’t been a front-line spinner before so that may have helped because it seemed people looked to target me this year, meaning I got a few more wickets than normal.
“I’ve been able to put a lot of work into my bowling this year, nothing technical just working on variations and trying to be a bit smarter working on my pace.
“With the domestic contracts increasing financially last year, it meant we could train so much more and it gave me that extra time to practice my second discipline. The contracts going full time has been a game changer in women’s cricket and I think it meant we were all more prepared this year.
“The Hundred needs to take a lot of credit for where the women’s game has gone in the last few years and I think it’s attracting a crowd that doesn’t normally watch cricket.
“I’m very happy with the Charlotte Edwards Cup and The Hundred trophies being in the cabinet this year but winning the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy too would top it off, it would be the summer of dreams.”
Price voted August’s best player
Price was in fantastic form in the Metro Bank One Day Cup during August, earning a total of 143 MVP points.
The 22-year-old scored a phenomenal 575 runs in the competition at an average of 82.1 and is the third leading run-scorer in the competition so far.
Picking up three Match MVP awards, Price achieved a brilliant new List A career bet against Derbyshire securing 22 points thanks to his unbeaten 116 off 115 balls. He also helped Gloucestershire over the line with 109 not out against Glamorgan earning a further 25 points.
Price was presented his bespoke Mappin & Webb trophy for winning PCA Player of the Month by Gloucestershire captain James Bracey, Price described what is what like winning the award.
“I’m really pleased and pretty surprised to be honest given the strength of the nominees. Absolutely delighted to have won. It was a great month of cricket and as a team we played really well so it’s nice to get some recognition.
“I thought the One Day Cup was awesome. We played in many crowds not dissimilar to the Blast, we played in front of a full house at Worcester and had a couple of games at Cheltenham which is always one of the best places to play. I thought it was a great tournament and a shame to get knocked out at the final hurdle before the final but it was so much fun and an awesome tournament to be part of.
“It’s nice to hear you’re up with some of the best players in the country according to the MVP. That’s where I’d like to be. I feel like I grew a lot in confidence last year where I had a lot of starts without making the big contributions that I’ve made this year.
“I’m really pleased with my summer so far and some of the moments I’ve been involved in. It’s a long season so you have your highs and lows so it’s nice to have ridden them out and found some consistency the last couple of months. I feel like I’ve contributed regularly but you’re always left wanting more and a performance in that semi-final would’ve been nice but that’s the game but it’s been an enjoyable year so far.”
Find out more about the PCA MVP Rankings and view the men’s and women’s tables.
Name of Author: Professional Cricketers Association
The Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA), founded in 1967 by former England fast bowler Fred Rumsey as the Cricketers’ Association, represents past and present first-class cricketers in England and Wales. In the 1970s, the PCA established a standard employment contract and minimum wage for professional cricketers. It also helped create a pension scheme in 1995 and launched the magazine All Out Cricket and the ACE UK Educational Programme in 2002.
