Warwickshire off-spinner Jeetan Patel has extended his lead at the top of the Professional Cricketers’ Association Most Valuable Player Rankings to 47 points.
With Hampshire’s Liam Dawson again on international duty with England’s one day squad this week, Patel took the opportunity to close in on a second PCA MVP title in three seasons.
The former New Zealand Test player took 17 points from Warwickshire’s drawn Specsavers County Championship match against leaders Middlesex at Edgbaston.
Although Patel played second fiddle to leg-spinner Josh Poysden, who took his maiden five wicket haul in Middlesex’s first innings, he took three for 92 in the second, with all his victims being top four batsmen.
Dawson remains in second place with Durham’s Keaton Jennings third in the overall PCA MVP on 441 points.
Patel is second in the Specsavers County Championship PCA MVP on 296 points, 51 behind his county team-mate Keith Barker who is the long-time leader.
The PCA MVP was introduced in 2007 and is designed by the players to find the cricketers who really win matches by combining all aspects of a player’s performance to give a ranking in relation to his peers.
The MVP 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 taken at the start of the innings are judged more valuable than those that fall later, and bowlers who bowl their overs cheaply (in the context of the match) are given due reward for doing so.
The weightings in the revised formula have been scaled so as to provide continuity with previous seasons, ensuring that the value of an MVP point this year is equivalent to those allocated under previous formulae.
