Martin van Jaarsveld Shows No Signs of Relinquishing His Lead - 08/09/2008
This week's programme was decimated by rain but some of the main contenders were still able to add to their points' tally. The man they're all trying to catch, Martin van Jaarsveld, shows no signs of relinquishing a lead he has held for most of the season. He didn't bat in the rain-interrupted championship (LVCC) match against Surrey at Canterbury but had already extended his lead at the top of the rankings with a sublime pro40 innings of 93 from 69 balls at the Oval earlier in the week. Van Jaarsveld maintains his first spot in the overall and LVCC MVPs and has now scored 2096 runs, as well as having taken 12 wickets and 41 catches.
Ryan McLaren knows he needs something special to catch his friend and team-mate but dropping a sitter of van Jaarsveld's bowling is not what the MVP was intended for. McLaren apologised to his compatriot then promptly went up the other end and had the same batsman caught at slip, ironically by van Jaarsveld. McLaren has 640 runs and 77 wickets across all cricket.
Samit Patel returned from England duty to help Nottinghamshire to a win over Middlesex in the Pro40 but is surely competing for a bronze medal. Patel took 2-40 taking his wicket tally to 36 together with his 1193 runs. He lies third 93 points behind van Jaarsveld.
Tim Bresnan remains fourth despite little action for Yorkshire but the man many believe to be van Jaarsveld's biggest threat for the MVP title, Marcus Trescothick, continues to march up the table. Trescothick's innings of 35 at Trent Bridge was enough to push him above Ravi Bopara, who didn't play this week, and the former England opener has the ability and the experience to finish the season in style. He is the country's leading run-scorer with 2115 across all cricket.
Yasir Arafat played his first game for Kent since the final defeat by Essex in the FPT and was immediately back in the action taking 3-66 against Surrey. Arafat has now taken 80 wickets and scored 560 runs across all forms occupying seventh spot overall.
Dimitri Mascarenhas, Azhar Mahmood and Ryan ten Doeschate complete the top ten but none of them figured in this week's round of matches. Hampshire and Essex enjoyed a rare week off, while Mahmood was not risked in the shortened match at Canterbury.
Leading Run-Scorers
1 Marcus Trescothick 2115 runs
2 Martin van Jaarsveld 2096 runs
3 Jacques Rudolph 2007 runs
4 Joe Denly 1903 runs
5 Jonathan Trott 1899 runs
6 HD Ackerman 1832
7 Vikram Solanki 1781 runs
8 Ravi Bopara 1760 (129 for England)
9 Murray Goodwin 1717 runs
10 Mark Ramprakash 1695 runs
Leading Wicket-Takers
1 Tim Murtagh 91 wickets
2 Steve Harmison 89 wickets (nine for England)
3= Kabir Ali 80 wickets
3= Yasir Arafat 80 wickets
5 Ryan McLaren 77 wickets
6 Charl Langeveldt 74 wickets
7= Tim Bresnan 71 wickets
7= Danish Kaneria 71 wickets
9 Charlie Shreck 66 wickets
10 David Masters 69 wickets
Leading Keepers
1 Geraint Jones 95 dismissals (83 catches, 12 stumpings)
2 Steven Davies 85 dismissals (83, 2)
3 James Foster 80 dismissals (70, 10)
4 Paul Nixon 77 dismissals (68, 9)
5 Phil Mustard 76 dismissals (68, 8)
6 Gerard Brophy 74 dismissals (65, 9)
7 Chris Read 70 dismissals (63, 7)
8 Ben Scott 62 dismissals (50, 12)
9= Niall O'Brien 60 dismissals (53, 7)
9= Jon Batty 60 dismissals (48, 12)
Rankings Bulletins
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