Elwiss and Abbott crowned May winners

Georgia Elwiss and Kyle Abbott continue with their excellent starts to the 2025 domestic season by winning May’s PCA Player of the Month awards.

The duo were shortlisted for the awards through the PCA’s Most Valuable Player Rankings, powered by OFX. The unique algorithm selected the top four men’s and women’s players before they faced a public vote, with the winners decided by a 50:50 split between the two.

In the women’s game, Elwiss won the award by firstly picking up the most MVP points in May with 118.15 and then dominating the polls by securing more than 53% of the public vote. The Blaze all-rounder finished ahead of Somerset captain Sophie Luff with Emma Lamb and Kathryn Bryce coming home in third and fourth place respectively.

The men’s result saw Hampshire bowler Abbott pip Warwickshire all-rounder Ed Barnard to the May award. The right-arm fast bowler got nearly 36% of the public vote – the most in the men’s game. Meanwhile, Lancashire’s opening duo of Keaton Jennings and Luke Wells were third and fourth.

Elwiss’ all-round performances resulted in her first ever PCA Player of the Month accolade. The 34-year-old had a productive month in May, scoring 339 runs at an average of 84.75 across the Metro Bank One Day Cup and the opening two rounds of the Vitality Blast.

The right-arm medium pace bowler also took seven wickets last month, including 3-35 against Surrey to go along with 82 with the bat in an incredible tied One Day Cup game in Beckenham.

With an MVP points tally of 118.15, the most in the women’s game in May, the all-rounder, capped 54 times by England, also captained the women’s PCA Team of the Month.

Elwiss secured one Match MVP last month, against Warwickshire in the opening game of the Vitality Blast. The right-handed batter scored 52 whilst opening the innings for The Blaze – one of her five half-centuries in May and took two wickets to claim 23.40 points. This was, however, the second game in a month where both The Blaze and Elwiss featured in a tied encounter.

After winning the PCA Player of the Month for May, Georgia Elwiss said: “It is a lovely honour. It is something very new to me since I had never won it before.

“Coming into a new team, you want to make a good impression and try and help them win games which is all I have been focused on through May.

“It was great to win against Lancashire considering we tied the day before. Each game can be exhausting both physically and mentally, so it is all about regrouping. But to come away with a hard-fought win having learned from what had happened the day before and playing a little bit better was really pleasing and of course it was a nice celebration for me on my birthday!

“It is always nice to win the public poll. You always want to do the best for the team and the fact it is appreciated by the wider cricketing community is a huge bonus. It is not really something that I am setting out to try and achieve. But again, it is a nice recognition come end of the month when you reflect on your performances.

“We had success in the T20 competition last year, so we want to repeat that and go one better and win the 50-over competition as well. No game feels easy this year with the standards improving rapidly, so you have to try and stay ahead of the curve by training hard and continuing to learn and grow as a team.”

Hampshire fast bowler Abbott is named the PCA Player of the Month for May after taking 20 wickets in the four Rothesay County Championship rounds contested last month.

The 37-year-old picked up 132.94 MVP points in May and was also named in the men’s PCA Team of the Month.

The former South Africa international picked up two Match MVPs in May. The first came against Nottinghamshire where he took 5-57 in the first innings and then 3-62 in the second innings to add to his 67 with the bat. Despite earning 59.88 points for his efforts, Hampshire unfortunately ended up on the losing side.

His second Match MVP came against Warwickshire. Again, he took eight wickets in the game, including 5-47 in the first innings to earn himself 50.70 MVP points. This time Hampshire came away with the win, securing a 89-run victory at Edgbaston.

At the time of writing, Abbott is the joint-highest wicket-taker in this season’s County Championship with 32 scalps. He currently averages 17.59 with an economy of just under 2.50.

Following a successful month in the County Championship, Kyle Abbott said: “I am very proud. It has been a tough first block of four-day cricket with seven games in eight weeks, but it was nice to get into some rhythm and momentum and have a good May which I am very happy for.

“Getting five wickets is always special but to do it in a winning cause makes it a little bit better. It was a well-fought game between the two teams at Edgbaston, one of the better ones that I have been involved in, so it was nice to help the team win.

“It is probably one of the better starts I have gotten off to since I started playing for Hampshire. Normally I have a slow start and then pick it up towards the end of the season. But this year I seem to have found my groove and rhythm a lot quicker which is very handy.

“Nothing really changed much in my pre-season preparations coming into this season. However, we have an inexperienced bowling attack this season, which is a lot different to recent years, so I have to be on point from ball one whilst leading this attack.

“I was up against some very strong candidates, so I didn’t expect to win. I thought Ed Barnard might have actually snuck ahead with his contributions with both, the bat and ball. But I am very proud. It is always nice to get recognised for some strong performances.”

Find out more about the PCA MVP Rankings and view the men’s and women’s tables.

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