Trescothick Back on Form in the County FTI MVP Rankings -16/05/11

Marcus Trescothick, the Somerset captain and FTI MVP of 2009, is up to seventh place in the rankings after a week which has seen him score hundreds in both the LV County Championship (LV=CC) and the Clydesdale Bank 40. Trescothick's Somerset side were the favourites for this year's LV=CC title at the outset of the season, but after humiliating innings' losses to Warwickshire and Lancashire in the first fortnight of the season, it looked like their challenge might be derailed before it had even begun. Victories against Hampshire and Worcestershire, however, combined with a 100% record in the CB40 have got the Cidermen back on track and few would bet against them being serious contenders in all forms.

Trescothick's own form has mirrored that of his team's. Scores of 18, 5, 4, and 21 in the LV=CC were interspersed with 0, 0 and 6 in the CB40. Such is the pedigree of the man, though, that he bounced back with 227 against Hampshire in the LV=CC and 50 off 51 balls in the CB40 against Gloucestershire. This week he racked up  57 FTI MVP points after scoring 144 against Durham in the LV=CC and 111 off 79 balls against Lancs in the CB40. He has scored 21.49% of Somerset's Championship runs.

Trescothick finished fourth in last year's overall FTI MVP and 10^th in the 2008 campaign, which when combined with his victory in 2009, makes him the most consistent county cricketer across all forms in the history of the MVP. He is currently 36 points adrift of Chris Woakes, who continues to enjoy a healthy lead in the FTI MVP despite having had a week off through injury.

Another man who has run into form at just the right time is Essex's Ravi Bopara. Bopara will play for the England Lions against Sri Lanka this week alongside Eoin Morgan in a match which is being billed as a shoot-out between the two for Paul Collingwood's vacated Test spot. Like Trescothick, Bopara had a quiet first few weeks but is now churning out the runs. Last week he scored 61 and 136 against Glamorgan, this week he helped save the match against Derbyshire with a second innings 119. Bopara has now scored 562 runs and taken 16 wickets, 408 and 9 of which have come in the Championship. He is currently ranked fourth overall.

Ed Joyce is a new entry into the top 10 after a terrific couple of weeks which has seen him pump out runs in both forms of the game. Championship hundreds against Lancashire and Hampshire allied to 88 not out in the same competition this week against Notts, and 90 from 93 balls to see off Derbyshire in the CB40, has seen him rise to sixth spot overall and tenth in the LV=CC FTI MVP.

Worcestershire's Gareth Andrew is another player having his strongest ever start to the season. The former Somerset bowling all-rounder has never finished in the top 100 of the overall FTI MVP, but is up to eighth overall and sixth in the LV=CC FTI MVP after scoring 280 runs and taking 27 wickets, 256 and 20 of which have come in the Championship. Andrew has scored just the one Championship fifty and has yet to take a five-for but has been remarkably consistent, chipping in with useful runs and never failing to chalk up a wicket. He has been one of the few success stories for a Worcestershire side which has lost all five of its matches in the Championship's top flight.

In the CB40, FTI MVP Craig Kieswetter's absence has seen his former county colleague Wes Durston leapfrog over him into top spot. The Derbyshire batting all-rounder has scored 320 runs, including four fifties from five knocks, and has also contributed four wickets and an economy rate of just four runs per over. Durston, released by Somerset 18 months ago, fought his way back into the county game via the Unicorns, for whom he produced several match-winning performances including 117 off 68 balls against Sussex.

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MVP Goes Amateur!

Fans of the PCA's groundbreaking Most Valuable Player system will be delighted to hear that MVP has 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  www.mycricketmvp.com/ for all the details.