Lancashire all-rounder Liam Livingstone has won the Vitality Blast Men’s Player of the Year award having dominated the group stages of the competition.
The 32-year-old ended the tournament top of the PCA Most Valuable Player Rankings, powered by OFX, with 239.46 MVP points, claiming the £2,500 prize money and a bespoke trophy.
Livingstone expressed his all-round capabilities scoring 456 runs at an average of 50.66, with a strike-rate of 164.62, which included 35 sixes. With the ball, he took 12 wickets at 23.25 a-piece and with an economy of 7.75 in just 10 matches.
Northamptonshire Steelbacks won an enthralling Vitality Blast Finals Day, beating Hampshire Hawks by 14 runs, largely thanks to Ricardo Vasconcelos securing the Match MVP with 88 runs off 59 balls. A Match MVP performance by captain David Willey led the Steelbacks team into the final, taking 3-17 in a semi-final victory over Somerset. In the second game of the day, Hampshire’s PCA Representative Joe Weatherley hit a breathtaking unbeaten 88 as the Hawks beat Notts Outlaws by 27 runs.
However, the standout performer in the Vitality Blast was Livingstone. The England international secured four Match MVPs during this year’s Blast, the first of which was the highest Match MVP score of the competition, earning 66.98 points against Glamorgan for a blistering innings of 81 off 37 balls and figures of 3-13 from his four overs.
Against Durham two days later, Livingstone took figures of 1-19 and smashed an unbeaten 85 off 31 balls with six fours and eight sixes in a rain-reduced T10 match, helping his side chase down 129 and win by seven wickets, adding a further 57.66 MVP points to his tally.
The all-rounder also contributed to a five-wicket win against Leicestershire thanks to figures of 2-34 and an innings of 74 off 45 balls, clearing the ropes a further seven times and earning 36.78 MVP points. A fourth Match MVP came for Livingstone at Trent Bridge for figures of 1-32 and a 31-ball innings of 47.
The highest placed player involved on Finals Day was Northamptonshire Steelbacks batter Chris Lynn, who finished in fourth with 220.08 MVP points.
The Australian scored 518 runs during the tournament with a healthy average of 47.09 and a strike-rate of 169.83, including two centuries, and scored the most batting MVP points in the Blast with 206.08.
Earning three Match MVPs during the Blast, Lynn’s first came in May against Warwickshire where he secured 52.41 points for a brilliant knock of 115 not out off 59 balls in a six-wicket win, chasing down 209 for victory.
Against Essex, the 36-year-old won a Match MVP for his innings of 75 off 37 balls which included 11 fours and three sixes in a 130-run win for Northants.
Another Match MVP for Lynn came against Glamorgan where he smashed his second hundred of the tournament, adding 62.82 MVP points to his tally for 117 off 56 balls with seven sixes in a 53-run victory.
Derbyshire PCA Rep Aneurin Donald came second in the MVP rankings with 230.62 points thanks to scoring 489 runs at an average of 40.75 with an unbelievable strike-rate of 230.66.
The Derbyshire captain won four Match MVPs during the Blast, the first coming in a 23-run win over Notts Outlaws for an innings of 84 off 31 balls which included eight sixes. He also took two catches behind the stumps to accumulate 46.54 MVP points.
Against Lancashire, the 29-year-old secured 54.22 MVP points and another Match MVP for a catch and a stumping to go with 88 off just 37 balls, including nine fours and six sixes, in a narrow four-run defeat.
The Derbyshire opener’s biggest points tally came against Leicestershire, where another catch and a stumping along with a blistering innings of 91 off 38 balls with seven fours and seven sixes added a further 62.67 MVP points to his total in a seven-wicket victory.
Warwickshire’s Australian overseas star Beau Webster finished third, with the all-rounder securing an impressive 221.60 MVP points, largely thanks to being second highest run-getter in the entire Vitality Blast with 578 to add to his eight wickets.
The Vitality Blast Men’s Player of the Year was selected by the PCA Most Valuable Player Rankings, powered by OFX, the PCA’s Official FX Partner. The formula takes into account expected performance on every ball according to CricViz’s extensive database. The algorithm also considers the historic performances of the venue each fixture is being played at, therefore giving a more accurate reflection of the top performers in the game than traditional batting and bowling averages do.
The next MVP accolade up for grabs in the men’s game will be for The Hundred, which starts on Tuesday 21 July and concludes at Lord’s on Sunday 16 August.
Meanwhile, despite Somerset’s semi-final defeat, Craig Overton extended his lead at the top of the Men’s Domestic Overall MVP with two wickets. The April and June PCA Player of the Month is on 435.33 MVP points, 83.64 ahead of Glamorgan’s Kiran Carlson, and both will be looking to continue their exceptional form in The Hundred.
View the Vitality Blast and Men’s Domestic MVP Rankings here.
