Arafat Excels With Bat And Ball To Earn May’s LV County Championship Award – 05/06/2007 Kent’s only success in four LV County Championship matches so far this season has come at the expense of reigning champions Sussex – and the performance of all-rounder Yasir Arafat in that match has proved a major factor in his receipt of the LV= Player Of The Month award for May. Arafat hit a first-innings score of 122 from just 162 balls and also took five wickets in the match which his side won by an innings and 106 runs. The Pakistan international has been in fine form with the ball this season – averaging around a wicket every five overs in May and taking nine wickets in Kent’s recent draw with Hampshire. Arafat’s form with both the bat and the ball has been taken into consideration in making the monthly LV County Championship award thanks to the new format developed by the Professional Cricketers Association (PCA). The LV= awards will be using the new PCA Player Rankings for the allocation of all monthly and annual prizes, taking advantage of the new cumulative points system that rewards players for every run scored, every wicket taken and every catch held in the LV County Championship. The top 10 LV County Championship rankings for May also included Derbyshire’s Graham Wagg at number two, Stuart Clark of Hampshire at three, Worcestershire’s Kabir Ali at four and Younis Khan of Division One leaders Yorkshire at number five. Winners of each month’s LV= awards will be calculated by combining players’ overall performances – with Arafat and all monthly winners picking up £ 750 and the season’s winner earning £ 1500.
