NORTH v SOUTH PLACES CONFIRMED England internationals Tim Bresnan, Harry Gurney and Liam Dawson, England Lions batsman Ben Duckett and the Somerset pair of Lewis Gregory and Tim Groenewald are among the eight players who will be invited to play in the new North v South series in the United Arab Emirates next March. They along with Northamptonshire slow left-armer Graeme White and Kent all-rounder Matt Coles earned selection for the three-match North v South series as the top four England-qualified players in each region in this season’s Professional Cricketers’ Association Most Valuable Player Rankings. Hampshire all-rounder Dawson, who made his T20 International debut against Sri Lanka at the Ageas Bowl earlier this season, topped the Royal London One Day Cup PCA MVP Rankings with 128 points, two ahead of White. Dawson and White were the leading spinners in each group. Coles finished third on 122 points, nine ahead of Glamorgan’s South African all-rounder Colin Ingram who was ineligible for selection for the North v South series. All-rounder Gregory took fifth place, closely followed by Nottinghamshire left-arm seamer Gurney, Yorkshire all-rounder Bresnan and Duckett with seamer Groenewald, who finished 17th in the rankings table, taking the fourth and final place from the South. ” The North v South series is something that there has been a lot of banter about in the dressing room since the start of the competition and as we got close to the end of the group stage I knew that I was there or thereabouts,” said Gurney, who made his last international appearance in December 2014. ” It’s a good opportunity for someone like me just to remind the selectors that I can still do it and that I believe that I have still got an awful lot to offer the international game. It’s up to me now to persuade them that’s still the case.” White, who this week signed a new two-year contract with Northamptonshire earlier this week, also welcomed his inclusion in the North v South series. ” I’m really excited by it, it’s a great opportunity,” he said. ” I haven’t ever really thought about international honours before, I’ve just kept my head down at Northampton looking for consistency. ” We’ve had a great season in the Royal London One Day Cup, finishing top in the North Group which means we get a home quarter-final, and we’ve got a really good record at home. ” I was told a few weeks ago that I was doing well in the rankings, which is a measure of consistency. It’s great to get some reward for that and the chance to show people what I can do.” White’s haul of points included 105 for bowling with 44 of them coming against Lancashire at Wantage Road in June when he took a career-best six for 37. Dawson earned 25 rankings points for his rapid century against Glamorgan at Swansea on Sunday, where he scored at a rate of 147, and 44 for his bowling throughout the group stage of the RLODC in which he took eight wickets with an economy rate of 4.25. Dawson is also the overall leader of the PCA MVP with 387 points, 28 ahead of Worcestershire all-rounder Joe Leach. Coles finished the group stage of the RLODC strongly and earned 24 rankings points for taking six for 56 against his former county Hampshire last week and 29 for his four for 39, with an economy rate of 4.33, against Sussex yesterday. Gregory’s points included 36 against Essex where he took four for 23 with a miserly economy rate of 3.83 while Gurney earned 42 points from his five for 51 haul against Durham. Bresnan, who made his last England appearance against Ireland last year, took 41 MVP points from last week’s win over Nottinghamshire at Scarborough where he contributed 24 per cent of Yorkshire’s runs with an unbeaten 95. Duckett scored a century against Yorkshire in June and returned from a successful Tri-Series with England Lions to finish the RLODC group stage with 86 against Worcestershire and 56 against Derbyshire. Groenewald, who was born and raised in South Africa but who has lived in England for 12 years, had two match hauls of 20 or more PCA MVP points against Essex in June and Sussex last Sunday. ” I had been following the MVP for the last few games when I realised I was in the mix and it put a bit more on the games we had left,” Groenewald said. ” I’m really happy to be involved in something like this particularly with it being the first one and it should be a really good tournament. ” It’s brilliant how the system has worked giving an incentive from guys outside the England set up to work for. ” When I came over I was 20 and I had a whole career ahead of me and playing for England was definitely in my thoughts. I am 32 now and while it’s unlikely that I will play for England, especially with all the young talent around, this is probably the next best thing to playing for England. ” I am sure there will be some really good players out there, players who will be playing in the next World Cup so it’s brilliant to be involved in this tournament.” The PCA and the England and Wales Cricket Board’s National Cricket Performance Centre at Loughborough have worked closely to enhance the PCA MVP formula which was first introduced in 2007. The PCA MVP Rankings system identifies the match-winners and key influencers of matches by using a formula that measures each player’s total contribution by taking into account conditions, quality of opposition, captaincy, strike rates as well as runs scored and wickets taken. The remaining players in the North v South series will be chosen by the England selectors who will be thinking about the strategic needs of the England team in the build-up to the 2019 World Cup. The Royal London One Day Cup PCA MVP Rankings can be viewed here: https://www.thepca.co.uk/competition-rankings.html?comp_format=50OVER {{ak_sharing}}
