Photo Credit: Professional Cricketers’ Association
- The Blaze & Trent Rockets’ Heather Graham picks up 79 MVP points in July
- Somerset & Leicestershire’s Lewis Goldsworthy secured 145 MVP points
- The PCA’s Most Valuable Player Rankings were developed in association with CricViz
The voting for July’s PCA Players of the Month is now open.
The top four men’s and women’s domestic players have been announced using the PCA’s Most Valuable Player Rankings with the winners both set to receive trophies.
Lewis Goldsworthy demonstrated his fantastic all-round skills for Leicestershire and Somerset with 145 MVP points in July, leading the way according to the stats. Somerset and Trent Rockets’ Tom Banton came just a single MVP point behind in second place. Glamorgan’s Kiran Carlson and Sussex and Southern Brave’s Daniel Hughes also finished a point off each other in third and fourth on the rankings.
Australian all-rounder Heather Graham enjoyed a brilliant month, earning 79 MVP points in July and topped the monthly table. Compatriot Ellyse Perry sits second after impressing in The Hundred with Trent Rockets teammates Bryony Smith and Nat Sciver-Brunt completing an impressive top four nominees.
The PCA’s Most Valuable Player Rankings picks out the game’s top performers across every single fixture. This then forms the rankings for each competition, as well as an overall table which is how the top four is selected. The MVP takes into account batting, bowling and fielding contributions as well as match defining contributions using a unique algorithm developed with CricViz.
The PCA Player of the Month is decided by a 50:50 split between the MVP and the public vote on thepca.co.uk – with the poll closing on 2 August at 10pm. With a short window to have your say, vote now to pick your winner of the July awards.
Women’s Player of the Month
To assist your decision on who to vote for in the women’s category, below is a quick glance at the performances of the four nominees for July as the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy continued and The Hundred got underway.
Heather Graham (The Blaze & Trent Rockets)
The Australian all-rounder produced an impressive month thanks to scoring 120 runs and taking nine wickets across the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and The Hundred.
Averaging 20.5 with the ball, the 27-year-old picked up figures of 3-13 against the Northern Superchargers and scored a blistering 78 off 59 balls against Southern Vipers.
Ellyse Perry (Birmingham Phoenix)
Another Australian finds herself in second place, thanks to scoring 131 runs in three Hundred matches, earning 78 MVP points.
The 33-year-old all-rounder picked up two Match MVPs, earning 36 points for 65 off 48 balls against London Spirit and 39 points for a rapid 66 off 34 balls, which included four sixes against Trent Rockets.
Bryony Smith (South East Stars & Trent Rockets)
The 2023 Player of the Month for June scored 217 runs across both competitions, averaging 36.2 with the bat and took five wickets with a brilliant average of 15, collecting 66 MVP points.
The 26-year-old all-rounder secured a Match MVP against Sunrisers, picking up 29 points for her innings off 84 and impressive figures of 2-31.
Nat Sciver-Brunt (Trent Rockets)
From just three Hundred games, Sciver-Brunt has scored 151 runs and taken two wickets to propel her into the top four players in June.
The 31-year-old secured 63 MVP points and won a Match MVP award against Manchester Originals thanks to an unbeaten 56 off 46 balls, earning 26 points.
Men’s Player of the Month
July was dominated by white-ball cricket with the continuation of the Vitality Blast and the beginning of the Metro Bank One Day Cup and The Hundred. There were also three days of Vitality County Championship action at the beginning of the month that are taken into consideration for the July award.
Lewis Goldsworthy (Somerset & Leicestershire Foxes)
Representing both Somerset and Leicestershire during July, the left-arm spinning all-rounder produced a phenomenal month, securing 145 MVP points.
The 23-year-old scored 336 runs at an average of 48 and took 12 wickets at 22.8, as well as winning a Match MVP award against Notts for his 39-ball 67 and figures of 1-19, earning him 35 points.
Tom Banton (Somerset & Trent Rockets)
A brilliant run-scoring month for Banton saw him amass 486 runs at an average of 60.8, earning him 142 MVP points.
The 25-year-old wicketkeeper-batter picked up two Match MVP awards, firstly against Gloucestershire scoring an unbeaten 77 off 46 balls and then against Hampshire earning 29 points for 79 not out off 52 balls.
Kiran Carlson (Glamorgan)
The Glamorgan captain portrayed fine form in July scoring 324 runs at an average of 32.4, securing 135 MVP points.
The 26-year-old won a Match MVP award by scoring his first ever T20 century as he smashed an unbelievable 135 off just 64 balls against Somerset, earning him a massive 65 MVP points – the highest Match MVP score of the Vitality Blast this season.
Daniel Hughes (Sussex & Southern Brave)
The Australian batter scored 325 runs at 54.2 during July, amassing 134 MVP points during the month.
The 35-year-old won two Match MVP awards, against Glamorgan he took home 39 MVP points for a rapid 74 off 38 balls, as well as an unbeaten 96 off 54 balls against Middlesex, securing a further 40 points.
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.
