Trescothick Strong Favourite To Be Crowned MVP
Marcus Trescothick is on the verge of being crowned the PCA's MVP of 2009 after yet another hundred extended his lead to 78 points with just a couple of weeks of the season remaining. Trescothick's 102 against Lancashire at Taunton was his eighth century of the championship (LV=CC) campaign, his ninth across all cricket, and takes his tally for all forms to a mammoth 2819 runs.
Ian Blackwell, who in his first year as a Durham player has played such an integral role in their successful defence of the championship Pennant, is Trescothick's nearest challenger. He had closed the gap last week after taking 5-7 against Somerset, his former club, but could manage just a solitary wicket and 29 runs against Notts at the Riverside. No doubt an average MVP week will pale into insignificance when compared to winning county cricket's Holy Grail, however.
Craig Kieswetter is finishing the season like he started it: with a bang. The Somerset gloveman hit 14 fours and eight sixes in his 153 against Lancashire this week to take him past 2000 runs for the season across all forms and into third spot overall. In the LV=CC, where he is ranked eighth, he has scored 1151 runs including four centuries.
Steven Davies drops to fourth after a quiet week where he scored just 24 and 31 as Worcestershire lost to Hampshire at New Road. Davies, who moves to Surrey in the closed season, has been the Royals standout performer this summer with 1747 runs, 45 catches and 11 stumpings across all cricket. He has slipped to second in the Pro40 having not played since his back-to-back hundreds against Notts and Hampshire two weeks ago.
Mike Yardy, the Sussex captain, has been an instrumental figure in the Sharks' one-day success, but he and his team have found the LV=CC more difficult to come to terms with. Sussex are currently hovering nervously above the trapdoor to division two after defeat to Warwickshire at Hove with Yardy scoring just 29 and 27. Across all cricket he has scored 1514 runs and taken 25 wickets, 906 and three of which have come in the LV=CC. He occupies fifth.
Yardy's county colleague Ed Joyce jumps three spots to sixth after recording his third century of the LV=CC campaign in the Warwickshire match. Joyce, who won the FPT MVP title and lies eighth in the Natwest Pro40 MVP, is another player who has broken through the 2000 run barrier across all forms. He has racked up 2030 runs to date: 936 in the championship, 546 in the FPT, 379 in the Pro40 and 169 in the T20.
James Tredwell has been overtaken by Danish Kaneria in the race to become the county game's leading wicket taker, but he continues to help Kent win games. This week his five wickets on a flat Uxbridge pitch has taken his summer's haul to 90 scalps. The off-spinning all-rounder failed to make any inroads in the Pro40 against Warwickshire, for whom Neil Carter blasted 103 off just 66 balls, but he weighed in with a brisk 45 off 36 balls to consolidate his seventh position overall.
Sean Ervine, Andrew Hall and Samit Patel, who finished second in 2008's MVP, make up the top ten overall, while in the Pro40 MVP Phil Mustard continues the impressive showing by the keepers union as he regains his top spot from Davies. Mustard recovered well from the Championship celebrations to hammer 61 off 48 balls at the Riverside against Notts.
Leading Run-scorers
1. Marcus Trescothick 2819
2. Jonathan Trott 2147 (160 for England)
3. Jacques Rudolph 2056
4. Ed Joyce 2030
5. Craig Kieswetter 2005
6. Michael Carberry 1989
7. Mark Ramprakash 1972
8. Martin van Jaarsveld 1917
9. Jimmy Adams 1776
10. Steven Davies 1747
Leading Wicket-takers
1. Danish Kaneria 95
2. James Tredwell 90
3. Steve Kirby 85
4. Alfonso Thomas 78
5. Charl Willoughby 74
6. Jon Lewis 73
7. Imran Tahir 71
8. Graham Onions 70 (20 for England)
9. Saj Mahmood 68
10. Tim Murtagh 67
Rankings Bulletins
MVP Goes Amateur!
Fans of the PCA's groundbreaking Most Valuable Player system will be delighted to hear that MVP is being rolled out to all amateur cricketers! That's right, clubs and schools around the world will now be able to sign up for the professional MVP treatment, thanks to a brand new web portal in a joint initiative between the ECB and PCA.
No more arguing about who is the best player on your team - the MVP formula, designed by the pros for the pros, delivers a cumulative points system that rewards every run scored, wicket taken and catch held. All your scorecard information will be processed to determine who is grinding out the match winning performances...and who is full of hot air. Please visit at http://www.mycricketmvp.com/ for all the details.
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