All-rounder Collingwood Is England MVP - 14/05/2008  

The Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA), the representative body for past and present first class cricketers, has launched the England Most Valuable Player (MVP) 2008 following the success of the PCA County MVP which was launched in 2007.

The MVP formula was developed with input from past and present players and operates as a cumulative points system that rewards every run scored, wicket taken and catch held.

The MVP formula has been applied to England matches over the last 12 months and reveals the overall England MVP for the calendar year is Paul Collingwood. England’s one-day captain has been ever present for his country, playing 47 matches across all forms of cricket.  He scored 1872 runs, taken 33 wickets and held 39 catches, and ranked first for both T20 and ODI. In Tests he was England’s fourth ranked player having scored 965 runs including two centuries.

Kevin Pietersen finished second spot overall and was ranked England’s second MVP in Tests and third in each of the shorter forms. He had a fine summer in 2007 scoring centuries against both the West Indies and India in Test matches and also on tour against New Zealand in the third Test, where his innings of 129 represented over half England’s first innings total.

Ryan Sidebottom, the Test Match MVP, finished third overall following an exceptional year for the fast bowler in international cricket and would surely have ranked number one had he not played 20 fewer matches than Collingwood and Pietersen.

For England MVP Bulletin click here.

Former Kent and England captain Chris Cowdrey said: “So many players in the past have only concentrated on their average, and when you look at it, their contribution to the team hasn’t been brilliant.  With the MVP, you are judging players properly, those players that contribute the most to the team will go to the top of the table.”

The note to editors shows the rationale by which the MVP is calculated. More information and the full results can be found at http://www.thepca.co.uk/about-mvp-england.html A new feature for 2008 includes a ‘quick stats’ link allowing easy analysis of an individual player’s performance in every match.