Bopara Tops MVP After Week One
Yes folks, the PCA Most Valuable Player (MVP) is back bigger and better for 2008. We will keep you up-to-date with all the movers and shakers in our professional game as the county pros battle it out for the most coveted title in domestic cricket. With respect to her majesty it's no longer about getting an MBE, it's the MVP that counts and with Ottis Gibson having taken charge of England's bowlers there will be a new winner come September.
Ravi Bopara heads the overall MVP after a stunning first week for Essex in both the Liverpool Victoria County Championship and the Friends Provident Trophy. He smashed Northants all around Chelmsford for the small matter of 150 in the Championship, in which he also took five wickets, while his first bow in this year's FPT saw him contribute 99 from just 87 balls out of a total of 317-5 before bowling Kent centurion Martin van Jaarsveld to seal the match.
Bopara's combined performances have seen him jump over Darren Pattinson, who had a remarkable debut for Nottinghamshire in the Championship. The Grimsby-born, Australian-raised away swing bowler took 5-16 in Kent's first innings, scored 33 useful runs before taking three more top order wickets in the second innings as Notts routed the home side. His match analysis of 36-15-85-8 gives an indication of how he scored 43 bowling points to lead the LVCC MVP, which is enough to keep him in second place overall.
Mark Pettini, the Essex captain pips van Jaarsveld into third position overall. While both players scored useful runs in the Championship and scored centuries in the FPT Pettini gets extra points for captaining the winning side, something he has done twice this week.
Andrew Strauss might have had a poor championship match by his own high standards as Middlesex were defeated by Leicestershire at Grace Road, but he bounced back emphatically in the FPT scoring more than half his side's runs with 163 off just 130 balls to beat Surrey at the Oval. He leads the FTP MVP and slides in to fifth place overall behind van Jaarsveld.
Worcestershire's Gareth Batty is the one spinner in the top ten - not a bad effort after one chilly week in April. The combative off-spinner goes straight in at number six after returning excellent match figures of 6-55 off 42 miserly overs against Warwickshire in the Championship.
Expect a strong showing from Kent all-rounder Azhar Mahmood this year. A hundred on debut for his new county sees Azhar into seventh place while eighth and ninth are occupied by the highly respected duo of Owais Shah who notched 116 and 50 against Leicestershire and Shane Bond who took seven Sussex wickets on debut for Hampshire. Gloucestershire's Marcus North makes up the top ten.
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