The Professional Cricketers’ Association Player of the Month for June will be heading to either Kent or Warwickshire with Joe Denly and Heino Kuhn shortlisted from the Spitfires and the Bears batsmen Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott available to vote for in the online poll.
The Professional Cricketers’ Association Player of the Month for June will be heading to either Kent or Warwickshire with Joe Denly and Heino Kuhn shortlisted from the Spitfires and the Bears batsmen Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott available to vote for in the online poll.
The four topped the PCA Most Valuable Player Rankings in June and the winner will now be decided by supporters through a vote on the PCA website as well as Sky Sports app and website. Voting is now open (from 8am) and will close at 7pm on Tuesday July 3.
The Kent pair excelled in the Royal London One-Day Cup, being key performers for the side that reached the final before Hampshire claimed the trophy with a 61-run victory at Lord’s on Saturday.
The Warwickshire duo rolled back the years in June with Bell scoring four centuries and Trott adding three tons meaning they edged ahead of Harry Podmore, James Vince and Daryl Mitchell in the MVP Rankings to claim a top four spot for the month of June.
The MVP formula provides a more rigorous analysis of player performances than traditional batting and bowling averages, the formula gives full credit to those players whose performances improve their team’s chances of winning.
Points are accrued for all runs scored and wickets taken, these are then adjusted within the context of the match to take into account strike rates and economy rates.
Runs gain more points if they are scored quickly or in low-scoring contests. Top order wickets are judged more valuable than those that fall later. Catches, run-outs and stumpings are also accounted for as well as bonus points for captains and players who are on the victorious side.
The player who tops the overall PCA County MVP Rankings at the end of the season receives a £10,000 reward.
Ian Bell
Bell ended June with 586 runs at an average of 117 after the classical right-hander rolled back the years with a series of consistent performances.
The top order Warwickshire batsman was the Man of the Man of the Match by hitting 145 not out on the first day of the month in the Royal London One-Day Cup.
His performance of the month was unarguably against Glamorgan where he hit two unbeaten centuries in the same match to see the Edgbaston outfit narrowly win by four wickets, underlining the importance of Bell’s Man of the Match display.
A ‘daddy hundred’ then followed against Kent but his 172 was not enough to stop Kent storming to the top of the table as Bell ended the month with 134.87 points.
Jonathan Trott
Trott’s stellar month started and ended with centuries against Durham with the former England batsman averaging 122 runs in June.
Man of the Match displays against Leicestershire in the One-Day Cup and Durham in the County Championship went some way to securing Trott a space in the top four of the Rankings.
A match winning 102 not out led the Bears to victory over the Foxes, just two days after his ton against Durham.
Ending June with 608 runs, it was the Championship fixture against Durham where he stole the headlines by hitting an unbeaten 170, the only centurion of the fixture. A second innings 53 also meant he has now passed 50 in five out of his last six innings and ending the month with 134.79 points.
Joe Denly
Denly has just been awarded the MVP of the One-Day Cup after a tournament which saw him score 492 runs and take 14 wickets with June being a key month for the Spitfires.
The 32-year-old started the month with back-to-back Man of the Match displays, firstly scoring 78 to help beat Surrey and then hitting an unbeaten 109 and taking the key wicket of Gareth Roderick to contribute to a seven-wicket win over Gloucestershire.
That set the tone for June with the England international plundering 587 runs which included three centuries, two of which in the Specsavers County Championship.
Denly’s leg-spin also proved more than useful, taking 12 wickets which included four dismissals in the Lord’s final and ending June with 154 MVP points.
Heino Kuhn
June was an unforgettable month for South African international Kuhn, scoring 670 runs including an incredible four One-Day Cup hundreds in five games to take his county to the 50-over cup final.
The opening batsman’s outrageous run started on the first day of the month, posting an individual score of 117 against Surrey, followed two days later with 113 to beat Gloucestershire with Kuhn partnering with Denly to lead the Spitfires to victories.
However, the 34-year-old’s standout performances came in the knockout stages of the One-Day Cup as he claimed Man of the Match in the play-off and semi-final.
An unbeaten 124 against 2017 winners Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge led Kent to the last four before opening the semi-final with 127 at Worcester which proved to be a match-winning innings. Kuhn ended the month with 151 MVP points.
