Bairstow’s timely ton as Jennings leads the way Jonny Bairstow limbered up for England’s One Day Internationals against Ireland with a stunning century and the second-best performance in 50 overs domestic cricket in the history of the Professional Cricketers’ Most Valuable Player Rankings. Bairstow plundered a List A best 174 from just 113 balls to help Yorkshire beat Durham in a high-scoring contest at Headingley in the Royal London One-Day Cup yesterday. He reached three figures from 70 balls and headed off to Bristol to prepare for tomorrow’s ODI having collected 48 PCA MVP points. Only Ravi Bopara, who earned 50 points for Essex against Lancashire two years ago, has taken more rankings points from a 50 overs match since the MVP formula was introduced in 2007. Bairstow contributed 51% of Yorkshire’s total of 339 for four and he also collected two PCA MVP points for stumping Paul Collingwood off Azeem Rafiq’s bowling and another for finishing on the winning side. The MVP Rankings system identifies the match-winners and key influencers of matches throughout the domestic season. The formula takes into account conditions, quality of opposition, captaincy and strike-rates as well as runs scored and wickets taken. Inevitably, Bairstow’s innings overshadowed the centuries made by Stephen Cook and Michael Richardson – his first in List A cricket – for Durham and a polished 72 from Durham’s England opener Keaton Jennings. That half century followed Jennings’ List A-best 139 from 101 balls against Warwickshire and took him to the top of the MVP for this this season’s Royal London One-Day Cup with 63 points. It has also made Jennings, who made a century on his Test debut against India in Mumbai last December, a strong contender for a place in the North side for next year’s North-South Series. Following this year’s success, the England selectors will again use the MVP Rankings to help them pick the squads for the three-match North-Series. Four places in each of the squads will go to the top four England-qualified players in this season’s MVP for the 50 overs competition after the group stages. Warwickshire’s Sam Hain has also staked an early claim for a place in the North side with a century in the defeat by Leicestershire on Tuesday and an unbeaten 89 against Northamptonshire. Hain, Hong Kong-born, Australia raised but England-qualified earned 27 rankings points for his innings against Northamptonshire and 28 for his century where his 103 made up 40% of Warwickshire’s runs. Somerset all-rounder Roelof Van Der Merwe currently leads the Rankings for the 50-overs cup with 61 points having plundered 165, his maiden List A century, against Sussex. But Van Der Merwe is the highest-ranked player from the South in second place, two points behind Jennings. But Van Der Merwe, who has played international cricket for South Africa and Holland, is not England-qualified and, therefore, is not eligible for North-South selection. The leading England-qualified player from the South is Surrey paceman Jade Dernbach who took 10 wickets in their first three matches including four for 31 in Tuesday’s one wicket defeat by Essex. Dernbach, who earned 21 rankings points for that effort, is familiar to the England selectors having made 24 One Day International and 34 Twenty20 International appearances between 2011 and 2014. Derbyshire batsman Shiv Thakor also moved into contention for North selection with 130 in the victory over Northamptonshire on Sunday. Thakor’s maiden List A century comprised 42% of Derbyshire’s runs as they successfully chased down a target of 308. He took 43 rankings points from the match, the best by a Derbyshire player in 50 overs cricket and the ninth all-time highest in the format. To see the full MVP table click here.
