May Teams of the Month announced

PCA Teams of the Month for May have been revealed with the latest men’s and women’s XIs selected using the PCA’s Most Valuable Player Rankings, powered by OFX.

The domestic season has been in full swing throughout May, with the Rothesay County Championship and Metro Bank One Day Cup being played alongside the opening rounds of the Vitality Blast. Across all competitions, there has been an array of standout performances to earn selection.

Somerset captain Sophie Luff leads the women’s Team of the Month after topping the MVP rankings with 130.66 points. The opener has enjoyed a superb start to the Vitality Blast, securing two Match MVP awards with an unbeaten 82 against Surrey and 58 against Warwickshire.

Durham all-rounder Mady Villiers sits close behind with 123.50 MVP points. Her outstanding month included a century and three wickets against Warwickshire, alongside another Match MVP performance against The Blaze. Yorkshire’s Jess Jonassen retains her place in the side following another influential month, accumulating 110.15 MVP points.

Durham wicketkeeper-batter Bess Heath earns the gloves after accumulating 83.86 batting points alongside six fielding points, while Surrey all-rounder Alice Monaghan is rewarded following an impressive start to the Vitality Blast.

The bowling attack is led by the returning Ryana MacDonald-Gay, the 22-year-old topped the bowling rankings with 67.18 points after taking 12 wickets in four matches. The Blaze’s Charley Phillips and Somerset’s Olivia Barnes complete the XI following a series of impressive wicket-taking performances.

In the men’s game, Derbyshire all-rounder Martin Andersson captains the side after topping the MVP rankings with 149.18 points. The 29-year-old excelled with both bat and ball throughout the month, highlighted by a match-winning 57 and career-best figures of 6-23 against Leicestershire in the Vitality Blast.

Incredibly, the top eleven names in the men’s MVP rankings for May make up the Team of the Month, the first time this has occurred to create a truly balanced side since the PCA’s Team of the Month began.

Glamorgan captain Kiran Carlson scored 458 runs across both competitions in May, accumulating 146.31 MVP points. An outstanding 209 against Hampshire and a Vitality Blast century against Somerset earned his selection, while April’s PCA Player of the Month winner Craig Overton gains a place in the team for the second month in a row thanks to more impressive displays with bat and ball.

Former England wicketkeeper-batter Jonny Bairstow also earns selection after taking 11 catches and contributing valuable runs for Yorkshire, accumulating 101.92 MVP points.

The pace attack is led by Ben Sanderson, who took 25 wickets in May helping him secure 97.86 bowling points. Durham’s Ben Raine and Derbyshire’s Ben Aitchison are also rewarded for impressive wicket-taking displays throughout the month.

The PCA’s MVP system works by comparing a player’s accomplishments against the expected performance for that game. Runs and wickets achieved at each ground are also considered and compared to the average. This enables players to score or lose MVP points on every ball through CricViz’s extensive historical database, the rankings are a true reflection of performance.

The teams have been selected to create a realistic and balanced side, and as mentioned the men’s team is the top eleven names in the rankings. In the women’s team, Essex’s Grace Scrivens is unlucky to miss out having come eighth on in the rankings but other batters have scored more runs and are higher ranked.

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

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