PCA PRESS RELEASE
The ultimate 2026 XI determined by the PCA MVP Rankings.
Bringing together the strongest lineup from across the domestic game, the 2026 IG PCA Men’s Team of the Year has been selected using the PCA MVP Rankings, powered by OFX.
Seven debutants make the IG PCA Men’s Team of the Year, as Craig Overton captains a side full of multi-format talent. Overton, Joe Clarke, Kyle Abbott and Ricardo Vasconcelos return after previous selections, with Clarke and Abbott making their third and fourth appearances respectively.
Clarke and Overton join George Hill and Dan Lawrence as the quartet of nominees for the Toyota PCA Men’s Player of the Year to also make the Team of the Year.
Overton finished atop the MVP bowling table, alongside his PCA Men’s Domestic Overall MVP win, with 352.05 bowling points for Somerset and Trent Rockets. Clarke amassed the most batting points, racking up a mammoth 433.92 and finished as leading run-scorer in the top flight of the Rothesay County Championship with 1,288 runs.
Vasconcelos, Paul Walter and Ethan Bamber make the side having won silverware in 2026. Bamber finished as the league’s leading wicket-taker in Warwickshire’s successful Rothesay County Championship Division One campaign, while Walter ended The Hundred with 247 runs in just five games for Manchester Super Giants. Vasconcelos’ 439 runs played a significant part in Northamptonshire’s Vitality Blast win too.
Clarke is the only player to retain a place in the team from 2025 but sees a change in role, taking the gloves from John Simpson after a successful Hundred campaign keeping for Birmingham Phoenix.
The team was selected using the PCA MVP Rankings across all domestic competitions, with CricViz’s algorithm assessing batting, bowling, fielding and match-defining contributions. The XI reflects the best-balanced side rather than simply the highest-ranked players, meaning strong performers such as Essex’s Matt Critchley and Warwickshire’s Rob Yates narrowly miss out.
The PCA Awards in partnership with Toyota takes place at Exhibition White City, London on Wednesday 30 September where the most prestigious awards ceremony in the game will celebrate the top performing players in international and domestic cricket.
2026 IG PCA Men’s Team of the Year
Paul Walter
Essex / Manchester Super Giants
- 388.75 MVP points
- Scored 1,255 domestic runs
- 4th in batting rankings (325.27 batting points)
- Won The Hundred
Ricardo Vasconcelos
Northamptonshire
- 389.24 MVP points
- Championship Div. Two top run-scorer (1,159)
- Six First-Class centuries
- Won the Vitality Blast
Kiran Carlson
Glamorgan / London Spirit
- 440.72 MVP points
- 1,366 domestic runs
- 2nd in batting rankings (362.08 batting points)
- High score of 209
Joe Clarke (WK)
Nottinghamshire / Birmingham Phoenix
- 478.92 MVP points
- Leading Championship run-scorer (1,288)
- Top of batting rankings (433.92 batting points)
- Nominated for Toyota PCA Men’s POTY
Dan Lawrence
Surrey / SunRisers Leeds
- 426.47 MVP points
- 1,356 domestic runs and 19 wickets
- Six First-Class centuries
- Nominated for Toyota PCA Men’s POTY
Martin Andersson
Derbyshire
- 482.48 MVP points
- 1,734 runs and 40 wickets
- High score of 228
- 3rd in Men’s Domestic Overall MVP
George Hill
Yorkshire
- 402.13 MVP points
- 966 runs and 67 wickets
- Averaged 18.39 with ball in Championship
- Nominated for Toyota PCA Men’s POTY
Craig Overton
Somerset / Trent Rockets
- 680.08 MVP points
- 951 runs and 76 wickets, top bowler in MVP
- Won Overall and Championship MVP
- Nominated for Toyota PCA Men’s POTY
Liam Patterson-White
Nottinghamshire / SunRisers Leeds
- 437.88 MVP points
- 622 runs and 59 wickets
- Leading spinner (245.55 bowling points)
- High score of 111
Ethan Bamber
Warwickshire
- 415.95 MVP points
- Leading Championship wicket-taker (69)
- 2nd in bowling rankings (338.03 bowling points)
- Won the County Championship
Kyle Abbott
Hampshire
- 368.84 MVP points
- 2nd most wickets in Championship (64)
- 3rd in bowling rankings (311.87 bowling points)
- Averaged 16.15 with ball in Championship
About IG
IG Group (LSEG:IGG) provides online trading platforms and educational resources to empower ambitious clients around the globe. Headquartered in the UK, IG Group is a FTSE 100 company that offers clients access to c.19,000 financial markets worldwide.
About the 2026 PCA Awards
The PCA Awards in partnership with Toyota brings the curtain down on the professional season with the biggest awards ceremony in English cricket. Former players alongside over 175 current professionals will join key members of the industry to champion the best-performing individuals of the summer while reflecting on those who have given so much to the game.
Covering the full professional game, players are honoured across international, domestic, men’s and women’s cricket, with the awards ceremony taking place at the Exhibition White City, London on Wednesday 30 September.
About the PCA MVP
The PCA’s Most Valuable Player Rankings, powered by OFX, picks out the game’s top performers across every single fixture. This then forms the rankings for each competition, as well as an overall table. The MVP takes into account batting, bowling and fielding contributions as well as match defining efforts using a unique algorithm developed by CricViz. More information here.
Full list of awards announced at PCA Awards in Partnership with Toyota:
- Vitality IT20 Women’s Player of the Summer – Freya Kemp
- Vitality Blast Women’s Player of the Year – Charli Knott
- Vitality Blast Men’s Player of the Year – Liam Livingstone
- The Hundred Women’s Player of the Year – Annabel Sutherland
- The Hundred Men’s Player of the Year – Tim Seifert
- Metro Bank ODI Women’s Player of the Summer – Sophia Dunkley
- Rothesay Men’s Test Player of the Summer – Ollie Robinson
- Vitality IT20 Men’s Player of the Summer – Harry Brook
- Metro Bank One Day Cup Women’s Player of the Year – Jess Jonassen
- PCA Women’s Domestic Overall MVP – Jess Jonassen
- Metro Bank One Day Cup Men’s Player of the Year – Will Rhodes
- Rothesay County Championship Player of the Year – Craig Overton
- PCA Men’s Domestic Overall MVP – Craig Overton
- Metro Bank ODI Men’s Player of the Summer – Joe Root
- Metro Bank PCA Women’s Team of the Year – Maia Bouchier, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Hollie Armitage, Sophie Luff, Georgia Adams, Jess Jonassen, Mady Villiers, Amanda-Jade Wellington, Grace Ballinger, Charley Phillips, Bex Tyson.
- IG PCA Men’s Team of the Year – Paul Walter, Ricardo Vasconcelos, Kiran Carlson, Joe Clarke, Dan Lawrence, Martin Andersson, George Hill, Craig Overton, Liam Patterson-White, Ethan Bamber, Kyle Abbott.
Highlights at PCA Awards in Partnership with Toyota:
- Toyota PCA Women’s Player of the Year
- Toyota PCA Men’s Player of the Year
- Toyota PCA Women’s Young Player of the Year
- Toyota PCA Men’s Young Player of the Year
- PCA Outstanding Contribution Award
- ECB Special Merit
- PCA Umpire of the Year – Men’s Game
- PCA Umpire of the Year – Women’s Game
