Bryce and Jones recognised as women’s domestic season ends

Kathryn Bryce has been named the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy Player of the Year at the cinch PCA Awards, whilst Eve Jones has been confirmed as the PCA Women’s Overall Domestic MVP following the conclusion of the women’s domestic season on Saturday.

Bryce’s contributions with both bat and ball during the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy group stage enabled her to score 132 points in the PCA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Rankings, enough to see her finish top of the table 18 clear of Southern Vipers skipper Georgia Adams and pick up this season’s award.

The all-rounder was amongst the best performers in both disciplines during this season’s 50-over tournament. Only two players scored more batting MVP points than Bryce’s 68.4 whilst the 23-year-old finished just outside the top 10 in terms of bowling points scored with 45.9.

Bryce made three 50+ scores throughout this year’s tournament, including a career best 162 in her final fixture against Central Sparks.

The 35.6 MVP points Bryce scored in that game were the highest by any individual player in a Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy fixture this season, enabling her to rise to the top of the table and remain there until after the competition’s final on Saturday afternoon.

With the ball, figures of 4-16 against Northern Diamonds in late May stand out, but Bryce consistently contributed to finish with 10 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy wickets at 24.6 runs each this season.

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy Player of the Year, Kathryn Bryce, said: “It’s fantastic to be named the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy Player of the Year to round off the season. It’s been an up and down season for Lightning as a team, but it’s great to have been able to put in performances as captain of the team on a personal level.

“It’s nice to be able to contribute with both bat and ball – if one doesn’t go so well then you can rely on the other. It’s really important to me to try and be leading from the front to put in those performances and start the team off well.

“My individual highlight would have to be the last game of the season against Central Sparks. Even though we were out of the competition, to be able to stick in, get a hundred and then kick on was a big step for my batting, to prove to myself that I can keep on going and actually win games of cricket.

“Starting the season really strongly will be a key aim for us next season because we know what’s made us successful this year. So we need to be as prepared as possible to put us in a really good position going into the back end of the tournament next time around.”

Jones has been named the PCA Women’s Overall Domestic MVP after scoring the most MVP points across all competitions in women’s domestic cricket this season.

Throughout the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, the Charlotte Edwards Cup and The Hundred, Jones tallied 315 MVP points which sees her finish 43 points clear of Emma Lamb in second position.

The Central Sparks captain scored 143 of her MVP points in the Charlotte Edwards Cup, a return which saw her finish top of the MVP Rankings to be named the best player in the domestic 20-over competition at the cinch PCA Awards.

The versatile batter also finished in the top three of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy MVP with 111 points in that competition, and was in contention to make it a clean sweep of competition MVPs this season before being edged out by Bryce (132) and Adams (114) at the back end of the 50-over competition.

An impressive debut showing in The Hundred saw Jones finish in the top 30 of the MVP in the brand-new competition with 60.1 MVP points, putting her in amongst a plethora of established international and overseas names in the MVP Rankings.

In total, the 29-year-old scored over 800 runs in all competitions in 2021, averaging 55.2 in the Charlotte Edwards Cup, 48.3 in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and 29.1 in The Hundred. It is a return which has seen Jones deservedly voted by her peers to be on the shortlist for the cinch PCA Women’s Player of the Year at the 2021 cinch PCA Awards.

Jones could be the first female domestic professional to win that award, and she is also the first ever PCA Women’s Overall Domestic MVP, receiving a £5,000 cash prize for her efforts. It rounds off a memorable season for Jones which also saw her voted by the fans as the PCA Women’s Player of the Month on two occasions.

PCA Women’s Overall Domestic MVP, Eve Jones, said: “Consistency has been the key word for me this season. To do it over the three formats that have been played this year is really pleasing, and I’ve worked especially hard on my T20 game to try to improve my strike rate so it’s been really nice to get out there and express myself.

“There’s a huge difference between playing 50-over cricket and 100-ball cricket, and I feel like I’ve worked really hard on my game to get to a place where I know my game quite well and can slot into whichever format I’m playing as best as I can.

“To win the domestic Overall MVP is a great feeling, but I have to keep trying to prove myself and get better to help whichever team I’m playing for to win as many games as possible.

“I’d also like to thank the PCA for fighting to get that prize money for the women’s game. It means a lot that the women’s game is catching the men’s game up in terms of equal individual prize money across competitions.”

The Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy Player of the Year and PCA Women’s Overall Domestic MVP have been identified by the PCA MVP Rankings, Bryce and Jones finishing top of their respective tables which were produced by a new statistical algorithm for 2021.

The formula enables players to score or lose MVP points on every ball based on their expected performance for that ball in comparison to CricViz’s extensive historical database of limited-overs fixtures, with the venue being played at also taken into account.

Jones receives a £5,000 cash prize as Overall MVP, while Bryce takes home £2,500, with competition prize money equal across men’s and women’s domestic cricket this season.

Bryce succeeds Adams as the best player in the women’s domestic 50-over competition after the Southern Vipers skipper was statistically the best player in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy last year, whilst Jones is the first ever PCA Women’s Overall Domestic MVP.

Bryce and Jones have one domestic women’s cinch PCA Award apiece this season, as the Central Sparks skipper was also named the Charlotte Edwards Cup Player of the Year.

With competition and international awards having been announced throughout the final weeks of the season, the cinch PCA Awards will culminate on Tuesday with the winners of the four player-voted awards being announced live on Sky Sports during lunch on the opening day of the Bob Willis Trophy final.

Tune in on Tuesday to find out who will pick up the cinch PCA Men’s Player of the Year award with Durham’s David Bedingham, Luke Fletcher of Nottinghamshire, Essex’s Simon Harmer and England Test skipper Joe Root shortlisted.

Sophia Dunkley and Nat Sciver of England, along with Western Storm’s Danielle Gibson and Central Sparks skipper Eve Jones are shortlisted for the cinch PCA Women’s Player of the Year award.

Meanwhile, the cinch PCA Men’s Young Player of the Year will be announced alongside the first ever cinch PCA Women’s Young Player of the Year. Click here to find out more information on the shortlisted candidates.

Find out more about the PCA MVP Rankings and view the domestic men’s and women’s tables.