Photo Credit: Professional Cricketers’ Association
- Simon Harmer captains IG PCA Men’s Team of the Year for second consecutive year
- Six shortlisted candidates for player-voted cinch PCA Awards included in side
- Ultimate XI identified by updated PCA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Rankings
- IG PCA Men’s Team of the Year and first ever PCA Women’s Team of the Year are final prizes of 2021 cinch PCA Awards
- Complete list of this year’s winners included below
The 2021 IG PCA Men’s Team of the Year has been decided by the PCA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Rankings to give an ultimate XI from the 2021 domestic season.
For a second year in a row, Essex man Simon Harmer captains the team of star performers from the men’s domestic game, which sees a wide cross-section of players from 10 counties represented.
The cinch PCA Men’s Young Player of the Year is recognised with Harry Brook filling a spot in the team’s middle-order, whilst David Bedingham and Luke Fletcher, who like Harmer were shortlisted for the cinch PCA Men’s Player of the Year, also make the cut.
Fletcher took the most wickets in the LV= Insurance County Championship this year with 66, and the Championship’s top run-scorer, Sussex youngster Tom Haines, is also included at the top of the order after compiling 1,176 red-ball runs. At the other end of the age spectrum, 45-year-old Vitality Blast winner Darren Stevens claims one of the all-rounder spots.
The IG PCA Men’s Team of the Year, each of whom will receive a personalised winner’s medal, was selected via the PCA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Rankings, with a new statistical algorithm producing the Overall MVP table in 2021.
Stats correct as of Monday 27 September when the team was selected.
Jake Libby (Worcestershire)
- 343 Overall MVP points
- 1,075 Championship runs
- Four red-ball hundreds
- 554 white-ball runs at 32.6
Tom Haines (Sussex)
- 282 Overall MVP points
- Most Championship runs with 1,176
- First to 1,000 Championship runs
- Shortlisted for cinch PCA Men’s YPOTY
Ricardo Vasconcelos (wk) [Northamptonshire]
- 353 Overall MVP points
- 1,427 runs in all comps
- 50 dismissals in all comps
- Top 10 for batting and fielding MVP points
David Bedingham (Durham, Birmingham Phoenix)
- 367 Overall MVP points
- Most batting MVP points (315)
- Career best 257 vs Derbyshire
- Shortlisted for cinch PCA Men’s POTY
Harry Brook (Yorkshire, Northern Superchargers)
- 415 Overall MVP points
- 486 Blast runs (69 average, 149 SR)
- 189 Hundred runs at 47.3
- cinch PCA Men’s YPOTY
Matt Critchley (Derbyshire, Welsh Fire)
- 2nd most Overall MVP points (508)
- 1,285 runs in all comps
- 48 wickets in all comps
- April PCA Player of the Month
Darren Stevens (Kent)
- 460 Overall MVP points
- Three red-ball hundreds
- 39 Championship wickets at 18.6
- Vitality Blast champion at 45
Simon Harmer (c) [Essex]
- Most Overall MVP points (600)
- Most bowling MVP points (424)
- 37 white-ball wickets at 18.9
- 2 x PCA Player of the Month
Craig Overton (Somerset, Southern Brave)
- 430 Overall MVP points
- 19.5 points-per-game (highest in top 50)
- 42 Championship wickets
- 4 Championship five-fers
Luke Fletcher (Nottinghamshire, Welsh Fire)
- 476 Overall MVP points
- 2nd most bowling MVP points (420)
- Most Championship wickets (66)
- Shortlisted for cinch PCA Men’s POTY
Sam Cook (Essex, Trent Rockets)
- 418 Overall MVP points
- 3rd most bowling MVP points (375)
- 3rd most Blast wickets (20)
- Shortlisted for cinch PCA Men’s YPOTY
The Overall MVP takes into account performances in the LV= Insurance County Championship, Royal London Cup, Vitality Blast and The Hundred to produce the players who had the biggest impact throughout the season in all competitions.
Over £40,000 has been shared in prize money for the top performers in the MVP across 2021, with competition prize money equal across men’s and women’s domestic cricket.
A new MVP formula was produced at the start of this season by the PCA alongside CricViz and the players for both red-ball and limited-overs cricket, with individuals who have excelled across all formats recognised in the IG PCA Men’s Team of the Year.
The IG PCA Men’s Team of the Year and first ever PCA Women’s Team of the Year make up the final two prizes of the 2021 cinch PCA Awards, which have been announced throughout the last weeks of the season, culminating with the four player-voted awards which were broadcast live on Sky Sports during day one of the Bob Willis Trophy final on Tuesday.
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.
