Madsen makes his mark in PCA MVP Rankings Wayne Madsen’s influential role in Derbyshire’s impressive start to their NatWest T20 Blast campaign is reflected in his rise to second in the competition’s Professional Cricketers’ Association Most Valuable Player Rankings. Derbyshire, one of only two counties never to have reached the Finals Day of the competition, have won three of their first four matches in the North Group with Madsen contributing significantly in each of the matches. He began with 37 in the victory over defending champions Northamptonshire at Wantage Road and has improved on that in each innings since, making 42 in the victory over Yorkshire, 52 in the defeat by Lancashire and 58 in yesterday’s win over Worcestershire at New Road. Derbyshire have also used Madsen as a new ball bowler, an effective ploy that saw him take two for 20 in his four overs at Worcester. Madsen earned 17 batting points at Worcester and 12 for his bowling in a match haul of 30 rankings points which took him to 81 in the competition, 15 behind Glamorgan all-rounder Colin Ingram, the leader. The PCA 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. Ingram, who has already finished top of the PCA MVP for this season’s Royal London One Day Cup, made his second century in three NatWest T20 Blast matches in the victory iver Essex at Chelmsford. Ingram followed up his 101 from 47 balls against Sussex at Arundel with 114 from 55 balls at Chelmsford, again contributing 51 per cent of Glamorgan’s total. Ingram took 40 PCA MVP points from the Essex match and needs only four more to become the first man to 100 rankings points in the NatWest T20 Blast this season. Essex all-rounder Ravi Bopara climbed to third in the competition rankings despite taking only six points from last night’s defeat by Surrey at the Kia Oval. Those points were enough to take Bopara ahead of Kent batsman Joe Denly whose 116 from just 63 balls against Surrey last Friday earned him 40 points towards a match haul of 45. Leicestershire’s excellent T20 form is reflected in the presence of Clint McKay and Colin Ackermann in the competition’s PCA MVP top 10. McKay recorded Leicestershire’s best T20 figures of five for 11 in the win over Worcestershire at New Road last Friday which earned him 29 points. He added nine more points in Sunday’s win over Warwickshire at Edgbaston to move to sixth in the PCA MVP table on 55 points, one place and a point ahead of Ackermann. Ackermann returned his T20-best bowling figures of three for 21 against Warwickshire which gave him 16 bowling points. He had impressed with the bat earlier in the tournament by making 62 in the victory over Lancashire at Liverpool and 47 against Worcestershire. Kumar Sangakkara, the Surrey and former Sri Lanka batsman, is the leader of the overall PCA MVP Rankings on 378 points, 37 ahead of Ingram. Kent all-rounder Darren Stevens is third on 329 points with Essex’s former South Africa off-spinner Simon Harmer, the PCA Player of the Month for June, fourth on 328 points and Nottinghamshire’s Samit Patel fifth on 317. The full PCA MVP Rankings can be viewed here.
