Critchley and Smith win June awards

Essex’s Matt Critchley and South East Stars’ Bryony Smith have been voted PCA Players of the Month for June after each producing a fantastic run of form in domestic cricket.

The pair were shortlisted through the PCA’s Most Valuable Player Rankings for their performances in the month of June as the top four players according to the unique algorithm in the men’s and women’s game faced a public vote to decide the winner.

In the men’s category, the voting was extremely close with Critchley taking 43.6% and Kent’s Daniel Bell-Drummond just behind in second with 39.6%. Hampshire captain James Vince was third with Essex’s Daniel Sams in fourth. Critchley joins Ryan Higgins and Matthew Montgomery as Player of the Month winners this year so far.

For the women’s award, the voting was even tighter with Smith securing 41.3% and Southern Vipers’ Danni Wyatt narrowly missing out with 40.8%. Vipers skipper Georgia Adams was third with The Blaze all-rounder Erin Burns in fourth. Smith joins fellow teammates Paige Scholfield and Phoebe Franklin as the third member of the Stars side to win Player of the Month this season.

The Essex all-rounder impressed during June putting on strong displays in both First-Class and T20 cricket amassing 223.6 MVP points.

Critchley scored 450 runs in the month with an average of 40.9, 230 runs coming in the LV= Insurance County Championship and 220 in the Vitality Blast.

The 26-year-old also took 23 wickets with a fantastic average of 19.5 bowling leg-spin.

Critchley also managed to secure two Match MVP awards in the month with one each in the Blast and County Championship.

Critchley will receive a bespoke Mappin & Webb trophy for winning the PCA Player of the Month for June and described his surprise at winning the award.

“It’s a cool one to win but I think DBD (Daniel Bell-Drummond) probably deserved it more than me having scored almost a thousand runs but it’s a really nice accolade to win.

“It’s nice for it to go my way and it’s recognition that I must be doing something right, I’m happy with my overall game at the moment and I’m just trying to contribute to us winning games and hopefully winning trophies and I feel a bit more settled now in my second year with Essex.

“June is always a bit of a mad month fixtures wise, I think I played 14 games, but I love it so much I just want to be out there. It’s a good time because there’s a lot of cricket but when you get on a roll it’s even better.

“In the County Championship we’re playing some good cricket and the drier it gets the more it plays into our favour with the amount of wickets Harmy (Simon Harmer) gets. It was disappointing when our game with Surrey was heavily rain effected because we were in a good position but I’m confident we can chase them down and it’s going to be exciting with a few others trying to catch them too.”

Smith becomes the third South East Stars player in a row to win the Player of the Month award in 2023 having been nominated after securing 70 MVP points in June.

The 25-year-old scored 98 runs and took four wickets with a brilliant average of 14.3 during the month.

Smith also impressed for England A with scores of 84 and 66 against Australia further highlighting her impressive current form.

The off-spinning all-rounder picked up two Match MVP awards in both Charlotte Edwards Cup games she played in during June.

Smith received her bespoke Mappin & Webb PCA Player of the Month trophy from Alice Davidson-Richards ahead of the Stars Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy match against Central Sparks at Guildford.

“I’m very happy and a bit shocked to win really but I think that’s three in a row for the Stars now so that’s great for the team as well.

“We’ve put in some good performances as a team and individually so it’s well deserved, we put in lot of hard work over the winter which people don’t see when you’re on the pitch.

“I’ve tried to keep things simple with my batting and it’s easier opening up when there’s only two fielders out but I’ve got the backing of the team and the staff and thankfully it’s come off this season.

“Phoebe (Franklin) beat me in May to the award so it was nice to win this month. It’s been a busy month with England A as well and I’ve had some success in that but for me it’s just about keeping things simple and keeping the same processes.

“I can’t wait to get back with the Stars and we want to get our hands on the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.

“With the award being a public vote, I think that’s what makes it really special when you win, knowing that they’re voting for you makes you really proud and hopefully the Stars can get another one soon.”

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