Phantom Smith Leads Twenty20 MVP
Twenty20 fever has spread worldwide and with the sudden influx of Allen Stanford's bounty in addition to the Champions League concept there has never been more to play for as a county cricketer.
Last summer the Twenty20 MVP rankings helped catapult the eventual winner, Luke Wright, into the selectors' consciousness and it will surely become an increasingly important barometer of performance as the stakes continue to rise.
Twenty20 time is often an opportunity for county players to kick-start their season and interestingly only Anthony McGrath, who is in fifth place in the Twenty20 MVP appears on the overall top ten leaderboard.
Derbyshire's Greg Smith heads the Twenty20 MVP table after compiling an impressive 217 runs at a strike rate of 1.62, which includes a century of 62 balls against Yorkshire.
Andrew Hall, Northants' closed season Kolpak signing, has been the main force behind the Steelbacks' unbeaten start to the campaign with consistent scores of 54, 66 and 25 and even better bowling performances of 6-21 and 3-21. He occupies second spot.
Dwayne Smith signed by Sussex as a short-term replacement for Mushtaq Ahmed blasted 72 not out off just 27 balls including 5 massive sixes against Hampshire at Hove but he has yet to taste victory in a Sharks' shirt. The West Indies batting all-rounder also returned figures of 3-14 against Surrey at the Oval to help propel him into third place.
Self-confessed Twenty20 fan and specialist Tyrone Henderson put Essex Eagles to the sword taking 3-27 and plundering 64 not out from 30 balls as the Middlesex Crusaders recorded their third consecutive victory at Chelmsford. Henderson has seven wickets to date in the competition and occupies fourth spot.
McGrath has been consistency personified with scores of 55, 32 and 72 and an overall competition strike rate of 1.53. He is in fifth place in the Twenty20 MVP sneaking into tenth place in the race for the overall MVP.
Saj Mahmood's valuable wickets have helped Lancashire start their campaign impressively but he has also been rewarded for his economy rate after returning figures of 1-11, 3-12 and 3-22. He occupies sixth.
Marcus Trescothick has been the shining light of Somerset's Twenty20 batting to date. The much-fancied former winners have started slowly but Trescothick has notched 155 runs from his three knocks at a strike rate of 1.58 to jump into seventh spot.
Joe Denly's opening partnership with Rob Key was one of the main reasons for Kent Spitfires' success in last year's competition and he's at it again this year with three fifties in three knocks. He has racked up 165 runs at a strike rate of 1.17 to go eighth in the Twenty20 MVP.
The "master of miserly" Shaun Pollock still bowls a length and line that many batsmen find difficult to score off. He occupies ninth spot having taken 5-49 from his 12 overs in the competition.
David Sales completes the Twenty20 MVP top ten at the end of the competition's first week. He has recorded scores of 71, 27 and 41 at a strike rate of 1.30.
Rankings Bulletins
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