Photo Credit: Professional Cricketers’ Association
- May Teams of the Month revealed by PCA
- Women’s and Men’s sides decided by the PCA MVP, powered by Argentex
- Blaze all-rounder Kirstie Gordon and Hampshire spinner Liam Dawson captain teams
The May Teams of the month in the men’s and women’s domestic game have been selected by the PCA’s Most Valuable Player Rankings.
Using the MVP’s unique algorithm, powered by Argentex, the sides have been picked by choosing the game’s top performers across domestic cricket in May.
In the women’s game, the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy continued before the Charlotte Edwards Cup got underway. The Blaze all-rounder Kirstie Gordon skippers the team having scored a phenomenal 134.9 MVP points in May with her 17 wickets worth exactly 70 MVP bowling points, the most of any other bowler.
Central Sparks captain Eve Jones scored 307 runs resulting in the most batting MVP points (93.87) in May. Western Storm’s Australian leg-spinning all-rounder Amanda-Jade Wellington secures a place for the second month in a row, amassing the second most amount of points in the month (119.29), thanks to her 10 wickets and 139 runs.
In the men’s game a further four rounds of the Vitality County Championship were completed before the start of the Vitality Blast. Hampshire all-rounder Liam Dawson captains the side having picked up an incredible 142.96 MVP points in May finishing with 16 wickets and the most bowling points (79.02) during the month.
There’s also a brace of players that maintain their positions from last month’s side with Durham’s David Bedingham scoring the most batting MVP points in May (113.37) and Surrey’s Dan Worrall who secured the most bowling MVP points of a pace bowler (67.89).
The PCA’s MVP system works by comparing a player’s accomplishments against the expected performance for that game. Runs and wickets achieved at each ground are also considered and compared to the average. Enabling players to score or lose MVP points on every ball through CricViz’s extensive historical database, the rankings are a true reflection of performance.
The teams have been selected using a traditional, balanced side. This means that a player such as Lancashire’s wicketkeeper-batter Matty Hurst is unfortunate to miss out on selection due the performance of fellow keeper James Bracey who earned an incredible 29 fielding points, 10 more than Hurst despite the Lancashire man finishing seventh on the MVP table for May.
Likewise, The Blaze’s Lucy Higham enjoyed a strong month but couldn’t quite compete with the points of fellow spinning all-rounders in Charli Knott, Kirstie Gordon and Amanda-Jade Wellington.
Women’s MVP Team of the Month:
1- Eve Jones – 109.87
2- Sophia Dunkley – 85.67
3- Sophie Luff – 79.73
4- Abbey Freeborn – 99.33 (WK)
5- Kathryn Bryce – 79.72
6- Amanda-Jade Wellington – 119.29
7- Charli Knott – 97.27
8- Kirstie Gordon – 134.9 (C)
9- Fi Morris – 101.54
10- Tara Norris – 39.65
11- Freya Davies – 53.58
Men’s MVP Team of the Month:
1- Keaton Jennings – 113.68
2- Haseeb Hameed – 93.37
3- Adam Lyth – 97.06
4- David Bedingham – 115.37
5- Jordan Cox – 118.27
6- James Bracey – 90.38 (WK)
7- Liam Dawson – 142.96 (C)
8- Matt Critchley – 81.89
9- George Balderson – 81.11
10- Dan Worrall – 82.61
11- Dillon Pennington – 63.58
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.
