Prolific Bopara Back On Top Of MVP Table
Ravi Bopara jumps back to the top of the overall county MVP table, the position he held for the first few weeks of the season, but things are hotting up in this year's MVP race as there are just 15 points between first and sixth.
Bopara's amazing consistency across all cricket has seen him rack up 1612 runs and take 35 wickets. He is ranked second in the Friends Provident Trophy (FPT) MVP behind Martin van Jaarsveld, fourth in the Championship (LVCC) MVP and first in the Pro40 MVP. This week he scored just 46 runs in the LVCC against Glamorgan on a sporting Garon Park pitch but took 3-19 in the visitors first innings, which earned him 9 points. Bopara averages over 22 points per game in the LVCC and over 17 points across all cricket.
Van Jaarsveld is level with Bopara on 417 points but has played eight games more than the Essex man. The two go head-to-head at Lord's on August 16th in the final of the FPT, which will determine that competition's MVP. Van Jaarsveld is just ahead of his adversary in third in the LVCC MVP but has lost ground in the Pro40 with Kent only having played two matches. The South African's overall stats read: 1631 runs including seven centuries, eight wickets and 29 catches. He averages just over 13 points per game.
Van Jaarsveld's county colleague Yasir Arafat had a big point-scoring week despite being rested from Kent's Pro40 match against Glamorgan. The Pakistani paceman notched an impressive 25 points for his 6-86 versus Hampshire at Canterbury, which has seen him climb to 22nd in the LVCC MVP and third overall. Arafat has 533 runs and 77 wickets from all forms.
Tim Bresnan has been an ever-present in this year's top ten. The Yorkshireman is fourth in the overall MVP but has managed to creep over Martin van Jaarsveld, whilst simultaneously staving off Worcestershire's Kabir Ali to return to the top of the LVCC MVP. Bresnan has 395 runs and 37 wickets in the LVCC and 577 runs and 67 wickets overall. Ali is a new entry at number nine in the overall MVP but has shot straight in at number two in the LVCC MVP ten after a stunning ten-wicket return against Gloucestershire. The paceman has 374 runs and 73 wickets across all cricket, fifty of which have come in the Championship. He has an impressive points per game average of 14.31
Samit Patel is fifth overall. His 65 in the Pro40 win over Gloucestershire represented 31% of Notts' total and helped him consolidate his place in the top ten just 12 points off the leaders. Patel has 1075 runs and 34 wickets across all cricket.
Kent's Azhar Mahmood had a massive week for Kent in both the LVCC and the Pro40 earning himself a whopping 68 MVP points. He scored 73 from just 81 balls in his only innings against Hants in the LVCC before taking five wickets in the match. He then cracked 68 off 51 balls in the Pro40 against the Dragons, which was 34% of Kent's score, before finishing his week in style with 3-14. He is in striking distance of the leaders with 402 points having taken 53 wickets and scored 835 runs.
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