After six rounds of the 2022 LV= Insurance County Championship the PCA has released a team of the season so far based on the Most Valuable Player Rankings with Kent batsman Ben Compton leading the way.
The MVP Rankings were designed by the PCA in conjunction with CricViz and the players to recognise the top individual performers in the game. The algorithm takes into account match-winning contributions to determine the best players in any given fixture.
Leading the way across the 293 men to have played so far this season with an impressive 189 MVP points is Kent’s Ben Compton. The 28-year-old has scored more runs than anyone else with 878, including four hundreds and four fifties.
Compton’s opening partner in the line-up is the PCA’s April Player of the Month, Shan Masood. The Pakistani batter became the first Derbyshire player to score back-to-back double centuries with a career best 239 against Sussex. Masood has amassed 844 runs this season earning him 156 MVP points, two match MVP awards and seventh place in the overall table.
Taking the number three spot is Sean Dickson. Although he has been opening the batting for Durham, he is ranked fifth on the overall table with 162 points so comes in at three. Dickson has scored four First-Class hundreds this season on his way to 750 runs, including three match MVP awards.
Cheteshwar Pujara slots in to the team at number four. The Sussex batter has scored 720 runs this campaign with an average of 120 and four hundreds, including a double hundred against Derbyshire. The 34-year-old has 147 MVP points to his name.
Yorkshire’s Harry Brook has just received his first England Test call-up and sits in second place in the Championship MVP, he comes into our side at number five. Brook won the cinch PCA Men’s Young Player of the Year award last season. He has carried on his good form into 2022 with three hundreds which puts him just four points behind Ben Compton on 184.
The first all-rounder spot goes to Ryan Higgins. The Gloucestershire player finished ninth in last season’s County Championship MVP table and has started this campaign strongly. With 366 runs and 15 wickets the 27-year-old sits eighth with 150 MVP points.
Taking the gloves in the side at number seven is Warwickshire’s Michael Burgess. Racking up 486 runs he is the highest ranked keeper on the MVP standings at 17th, including 19 points for his dismissals, taking his tally to 130.
Hampshire’s Keith Barker has been in form with both bat and bowl in the early months of the season. With 27 wickets Barker sits third in the overall MVP table. The 35-year-old has built up 178 points thanks three five-wicket hauls.
Coming in at number nine is Craig Overton. The Somerset bowling all-rounder finished sixth in last year’s overall MVP table and finds himself in the same position this time round. He earned the match MVP for his performance against Essex taking figures of 13-87 against Somerset.
Another player with a first England Test call-up is Matthew Potts who comes in at number 10 and is the runaway leader when it comes to bowling MVP points. The Durham pace bowler has taken an impressive 35 wickets giving him 150 points with the ball, 25 more than his nearest challenger in Barker.
Matt Parkinson is the leading spinner in the rankings. The Lancashire bowler has taken 24 wickets making him the eighth ranked bowler on the list. Seven wickets against Kent helped Parkinson on his way to 112 MVP points.
Just missing out on a place in the side are bowlers Toby Roland-Jones and Sam Cook. Honourable mentions also go to all-rounder Ed Barnard and batter Ben Duckett.
With the Vitality Blast starting this week it’s a good time to look at some of the stand out performers from last season’s competition.
Samit Patel won the competition’s MVP award with a huge total of 228 points. The Nottinghamshire all-rounder picked up 309 runs with a strike rate of 131 and 16 wickets.
Kent opener Daniel Bell-Drummond came second with 174 MVP points. He scored 492 runs including six half-centuries on the way to winning the title for his county at Edgbaston.
Australian batter Marnus Labuschagne finished sixth in the table thanks to 390 runs and Leicestershire’s Naveen Ul-Haq took 26 wickets giving him 10th place in the 2021 Vitality Blast MVP Rankings.
Who will be the leading players this year? The opening night sees a replay of last year’s final with the holders Kent hosting Somerset while Worcestershire travel to Yorkshire. With Hundred Wildcard places available through standout Blast performances and a T20 World Cup taking place across October and November later this year, lots is at stake in the 20th year of domestic T20 cricket.
View the men’s domestic MVP Rankings.