Blackwell Storms To Top Of MVP Table
Defending champions Durham lead division one of the Championship (LV=CC) by 36 points so it's no surprise to find their players littering the top end of the MVP. They have a staggering number of six players in the top twelve of the LV=CC MVP including Ian Blackwell (second), who heads the overall MVP. The former Derbyshire and Somerset all-rounder, who made the move to the north-east in the winter, had another impressive week returning match figures of 4-22 as Durham beat Nottinghamshire by an innings. Blackwell has scored 966 runs and taken 34 wickets across all forms, 598 and 8 of which have come in the LV=CC.
Marcus Trescothick was not in championship action this week but did manage to chip in with 34 runs off just 19 balls in the Natwest Pro40 at Trent Bridge before rain washed out the contest. Trescothick is still the leading run-scorer in county cricket with 1581 across all forms, including four hundreds.
Jamie Dalrymple saw his Glamorgan side well beaten by a strong Kent outfit in the LV=CC but he did contribute 59 runs to take his tally for the campaign to 711. Across all cricket he has scored 1253 runs including three hundreds.
Last week's leader Glen Chapple falls three places to fourth after a week's inactivity. The Lancashire captain didn't play at Edgbaston, probably a shrewd move given the amount of rain that fell, and he will seek to get his MVP points back up and running after a well-earned rest. Chapple has scored 396 runs and taken 50 wickets, 337 and 27 of which have come in the LV=CC where he is also ranked fourth.
Mike Yardy, the third consecutive captain on the list, is enjoying a fine season with bat, ball and at the helm of the side. Sussex will contest the FPT final on Saturday and the quarters of the Twenty20 the following week. This week Yardy made 47 in Sussex's second innings of their rain-affected match in the LV=CC, and was run-out backing up for 31 in the Pro40. He has scored 993 runs and taken 23 wickets across all forms.
Somerset duo Craig Kieswetter and Zander de Bruyn are in sixth and seventh respectively but failed to significantly to their points tally after a week off championship cricket and a rain-affected washout at Nottinghamshire in the Pro40. Kieswetter has scored 1203 runs, taken 33 catches and contributed six stumpings across all forms, while De Bruyn, who is still ranked top of the FPT MVP despite Somerset losing to Sussex in the quarters, has scored 1088 runs and taken 17 wickets.
Michael Carberry is a new entry into the top ten at number eight after scoring hundreds in his last two LV=CC matches. The elegant left-hander made 123 out of 264 at Taunton (47% of the total) which earned him 30 MVP points, backed that up with 52 in the second innings as Hampshire staved off defeat, then inflicted more leather-chasing - this time on Saturday's FPT final opponents Sussex -with 112 out of 346 for a further 24 points. Carberry has scored 1353 runs across all forms, 699 of which have come in the LV=CC where he is ranked sixth.
Somerset's Peter Trego and Worcestershire's Steve Davies make up the overall top ten.
The Durham man dominating the LV=CC MVP is of course Steve Harmison. He has taken 34 wickets in his last five championship games, four of which have been won. Of his 46 wickets across all cricket 42 have come in the LV=CC.
Graham Onions has a better wicket-per-game ratio than his big Durham colleague having taken 40 wickets in the LV=CC from just five matches but he is unlikely to narrow the points gap while he is involved with England. Onions lies third in the LV=CC MVP behind Blackwell.
Michael Di Venuto and Dale Benkenstein are Durham's top batters occupying seventh and eleventh respectively. The Australian opener has notched three hundreds and two fifties in the LV=CC taking his tally to 666 runs, while former captain Benkenstein also has three hundreds in his 671 runs.
Liam Plunkett has joined the Durham party in recent weeks taking 17 wickets in three matches while Onions has been away. The former England bowler has taken 25 wickets and chipped in with 210 useful runs down the order, including 94 against Sussex and 65 against Yorkshire.
Rankings Bulletins
MVP Goes Amateur!
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