Photo Credit: Professional Cricketers’ Association
Surrey and Hampshire all-rounders pick up cash prizes.
Will Jacks has won the PCA Men’s Domestic Overall MVP award whilst Keith Barker picked up the LV= Insurance County Championship Player of the Year.
Both players are deserving winners of the awards having spent so much time at the top of the rankings this summer. Jacks picks up a specially created gold MVP trophy and £10,000 for the overall award with Barker also collecting a trophy and £2,500.
The PCA Men’s Overall Domestic MVP and the LV= Insurance County Championship Player of the Year have been identified by the PCA MVP Rankings with Jacks and Barker finishing top of their respective tables.
The formula enables players to score or lose MVP points on every ball based on their expected performance for that ball in comparison to CricViz’s extensive historical database of limited-overs and First-Class fixtures, with the venue being played at also taken into account.
Jacks has enjoyed a phenomenal season across all formats and has been shortlisted in both male categories at the cinch PCA Awards with the prestigious ceremony taking place at The Hurlingham Club on Thursday 6 October. The Surrey man also ends Simon Harmer’s amazing run of winning the Overall MVP three years in a row.
Featuring in a new role this season for his county as their premier four-day spinner, Jacks proved his all-round abilities taking 17 wickets and scoring 648 runs at an average of 54.4 with two hundreds, as he helped Surrey win the LV= Insurance County Championship.
The 23-year-old has impressed in the shortest format too, making history in The Hundred by scoring the highest individual total in the competition.
Jacks smashed 108* off just 48 balls including 10 fours and eight sixes against Southern Brave and picked up the Match MVP award with a competition record of 67 points.
Across all domestic cricket this year, Jacks won an astonishing eight Match MVP awards, one in the LV= Insurance County Championship, four in the Vitality Blast and three in The Hundred.
In the Blast, Jacks scored 449 runs at an average of 32.1 and a strike-rate of 142.1, with his white-ball performances earning him an England debut in Pakistan, scoring 40 off 22 balls in the second IT20.
“I’m really pleased to have won it because obviously lots of good players have won it in years gone by so I’m happy to add my name to that winners list.”
WILL JACKS
Jacks won Match MVP awards in the Vitality Blast against Sussex twice for 57 off 37 balls and 76 off 48 balls, as well as against Somerset for 66* and Gloucestershire for 51 off 33 balls.
On winning the trophy and £10,000 prize money, Jacks, said: “I’m very happy with how I performed all season in County Championship cricket, we set out the goal of winning the competition at the beginning of the year so I’m pleased I could help the team win.
“I’ve really enjoyed playing as more of a bowler in the Championship this year and I hope I can do a lot more of that in the future.
“To be named Overall MVP is great because it shows I’ve been consistent over the season and it’s an award that’s hard to win.
“I’m really pleased to have won it because obviously lots of good players have won it in years gone by so I’m happy to add my name to that winners list.”
Finishing a close second on the Overall table is Hampshire’s James Vince who picked up 521 MVP points this summer.
The Hampshire batter captained his side to victory at Edgbaston on Vitality Blast Finals Day and enjoyed a fantastic competition with the bat.
The 31-year-old finished as the leading run scorer and Player of the Year in the Vitality Blast with an incredible 678 runs at an average of 48.4, which included two eye-catching hundreds.
Vince won three Match MVP awards in the 20-over competition, the most impressive of which came as the Hawks skipper recorded a career best of 129* off 62 balls with 10 sixes against Somerset, picking up 40 MVP points as his side won by 14 runs.
The winner of the last three PCA Men’s Overall Domestic MVP awards, Simon Harmer, finishes third on the table with 518 points, ending his epic stronghold over the award.
Barker wins LV= Insurance County Championship Player of the Year
Barker secured the LV= Insurance County Championship Player of the Year by finishing top of the PCA MVP Rankings in four-day cricket on 371 points.
The Hampshire all-rounder enjoyed a brilliant First-Class season, helping his side finish second in the LV= Insurance County Championship by taking 52 wickets with a fantastic average of 22.4, which included three five-fers and best bowling of 6-27
The 35-year-old also scored 595 runs at an average of 29.8 with a highest score of 76.
Barker picked up three Match MVP awards for his impressive performances in First-Class cricket this year.
Helping Hampshire beat Kent, Barker took 6-53 and then scored 44* off 36 balls to earn 43 points on the MVP Rankings.
Against Somerset, Barker took season best figures of 6-27 and scored 36 picking up 41 more MVP points.
A jubilant Barker reacted to successfully taking home the LV= Insurance County Championship Player of the Year:
“It’s a great feeling. I worked really hard in the winter and started pretty well this season. I’m really happy to get the award, I’d like to thank the coaches and support staff for keeping me on the park and keeping me going when I’ve found it tough so I’m over the moon with it.
“I keep trying my best ever year and I am sure at one point my body will say I have to stop but I am going to keep pushing myself as much as I can and see where it gets me to.”
Second on the LV= Insurance County Championship MVP table with 332 points is Essex spinner Simon Harmer, despite missing three fixtures.
Harmer took 59 wickets during the campaign averaging 20.7, taking seven five-fers, including his 50th in First-Class cricket, two ten-fers and best match figures of 15-207.
The South African proved his abilities with the bat too, scoring 396 runs at an average of 26.4 with a highest score of 75 not out.
The 33-year-old picked up a Match MVP against Hampshire with 83 points, the highest total of any Match MVP winner this season. In the first innings Harmer took 8-46, then scored 61 with the bat and finished off with 7-161 in the second innings.
Gloucestershire’s Zafar Gohar made a late charge up the MVP Rankings, finishing in third with 323 points, having taken 47 wickets at 28.4, whilst scoring 493 runs with the bat at 27.4.
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.
