Photo Credit: Professional Cricketers’ Association
A mid-season update on the MVP standings, powered by Argentex.
With a couple of competitions now decided and just over half of the season completed, we delve into the workings of the PCA’s Most Valuable Player Rankings and take a look at the players leading the way statistically.
The PCA MVP is a unique algorithm developed by the PCA, the players and CricViz in order to identify the most effective performers in domestic and international cricket.
The MVP, now powered by Argentex, works by comparing a player’s accomplishments against the expected performance for that specific 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, meaning the rankings is a true reflection of performance.
The top individuals in all English men’s and women’s domestic cricket are tracked with the players accumulating points to determine the very best at the end of the season or competition, with £2,500 and a Mappin & Webb trophy up for grabs for each individual domestic competition.
Taking a look at the Overall tables in both men’s and women’s cricket, Hampshire captain James Vince currently leads the men’s standings, which has a prize of £10,000 and Southern Vipers’ skipper Georgia Adams sits at the top of the women’s rankings with a £7,500 prize to play for.
The Vitality Blast Player of the Year has been announced after an extremely close encounter between Essex Eagles’ Daniel Sams and Hampshire Hawks skipper James Vince. The Australian all-rounder eventually came out on top by 0.6 of an MVP point, read the story here.
The Charlotte Edwards Cup Player of the Year has also been decided with Georgia Adams winning the £2,500 prize, read the story here.
Men’s Overall standings
Storming clear in the Men’s Overall Domestic MVP Rankings is James Vince on 444 points, the Hampshire skipper also leads the MVP batting table on 358 points.
The 32-year-old scored the most runs in the Vitality Blast with 670 at an average of 60.9 with a strike-rate of 154.02, along with 70 fours and 22 sixes.
Achieving an incredible five Match MVP awards in the Blast, it’s clear to see why Vince has scored so many points.
His most impressive points scoring innings came against Essex as he led his side to a 118-run victory after scoring 103 off just 48 balls with eight fours and eight sixes to earn 53 MVP points.
Vince’s form has also been very impressive in the LV= Insurance County Championship with 630 runs at an average of 57.3 and is currently the fourth leading scorer in Division One.
The red-ball middle-order batter achieved 44 points and the Match MVP against Northamptonshire for his innings of 186 as his side won by an innings and 230 runs.
Middlesex all-rounder Ryan Higgins currently occupies second place on 429 points, thanks to exceedingly strong performances with both bat and ball so far this season.
Matt Henry tops the bowling table with 238 points, after taking 18 wickets in the LV= Insurance County Championship from just four games for Somerset. The New Zealander was also the leading wicket taker in the Blast with an incredible 31 wickets at 13.2, including 4-24 in the final as Somerset won the competition.
Women’s Overall rankings
Leading the way in the Women’s Overall Domestic standings is Southern Vipers skipper Georgia Adams with 257 MVP points.
The 29-year-old has impressed in both the Charlotte Edwards Cup and the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy this season.
In the 50-over format, Adams has scored 265 runs at 37.9, alongside taking 10 wickets at an average of 26.
Adams has secured three Match MVP awards so far in the competition, the most impressive of which came against The Blaze when she scored an unbeaten 94 and took 1-41 off her 10 overs earning her 27 MVP points.
In the Charlotte Edwards Cup, Adams lifted the trophy as Southern Vipers skipper alongside winning the Player of the Year award thanks to 249 runs at 49.8 and 10 wickets at 21.6 with a brilliant economy rate of 6.75.
Second on the Overall table is South East Stars captain Bryony Smith who has 206 MVP points.
Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy
Unsurprisingly leading the way in the 50-over format is South East Stars Paige Scholfield with 104.4 points, having scored two hundreds in the competition.
Two incredible innings from the 27-year-old of 111 not out against Thunder and an unbeaten 134 against Western Storm secured 29 and 38 MVP points respectively.
However, Northern Diamonds Lauren Winfield-Hill is close behind on 103.6 MVP points.
The 32-year-old has scored an incredible 453 runs at an average of 56.7 with a highest score of 116.
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.
