Facts, figures & formulas – the PCA MVP

The PCA Most Valuable Player Rankings returns for the 2019 domestic campaign this Friday.

The PCA Most Valuable Player Rankings is decided each year using a bespoke formula to distinguish the key match-winners and influencers in each professional game in England and Wales.

First implemented in 2007, the MVP formula enters its 13^th season with Kent’s Joe Denly the latest recipient of the headline award with an astonishing 579 points in 2018, 78 ahead of his nearest challenger, Surrey’s Rikki Clarke.

The player who tops the Overall PCA County MVP Rankings at the end of the season receives a £10,000 reward with the winners of the individual domestic competitions awarded the competition’s Player of the Year.

Not only was all-rounder Denly statistically the best player over the 2018 domestic season, he was voted the NatWest PCA Players’ Player of the Year and been rewarded with an England Test debut and a recall to the white-ball set-up to underline the accuracy of the MVP algorithm.

Throughout this summer, players will be pitted against their counterparts and teammates across every fixture with one player being statistically recognised as the MVP of each match which contributes to the MVP from each competition as well as the Overall title.

The algorithm was designed by the players to provide a more rigorous analysis of player performances than traditional batting and bowling averages.

The cumulative points system 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.

Currently, the MVP formula creates winners at international and domestic level and covers both the men’s and women’s game across every fully professional tournament in English cricket.

Denly’s match-winning performances saw his county promoted in the Specsavers County Championship with the Kent vice-captain also taking his side to the Royal London One-Day Cup Final and Vitality Blast Quarter-Final.

Winning the Vitality Blast and Royal London One-Day Cup Player of the Year, the Spitfires star had a golden summer and was ultimately rewarded with a call up to represent his country for the first time since 2010.

Tom Bailey picked up the Specsavers County Championship Player of the Year after taking the most wickets in Division One with 64 scalps in a difficult season for his Lancashire side. Bailey’s fine MVP form didn’t go unnoticed as he was and was also rewarded with an England Lions call-up over the winter.

The international MVP is reset at the start and end of every summer with Amy Jones taking home the Overall MVP for England Women this winter after helping her side to 10 straight victories against India and Sri Lanka respectively.

After a recall to the Test side last summer, Adil Rashid was the Overall MVP for England Men this winter with his white-ball performances dominating the headlines heading into the home World Cup.

The first round of County Championship fixtures starts on Friday with 12 teams kicking off their campaign with 2018 PCA MVP Joe Denly’s Kent facing last season’s Division One runners-up Somerset. However, the 33-year-old is currently absent as he is playing in the Indian Premier League along with nine other England qualified players.

Nottinghamshire face Yorkshire in the tie of the opening round which will see Stuart Broad go head-to-head with his Test captain Joe Root while Sir Alastair Cook will start the campaign against Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl in the remaining Division One encounter.

A key component of the MVP formula is rewarding players plying their trade in the top tier of red-ball cricket meaning MVP points gained in Division Two are worth 20% less than Division One.

With only one side relegated and three counties promoted in 2019, there will be added emphasis to securing top division status for 2020 and the race for promotion begins on Friday with Derbyshire facing Durham, Northants travelling to newly-appointed Stuart Law’s Middlesex and Sussex host Leicestershire at Hove.

To view more information about the MVP Rankings visit the ‘About the MVP’ page.

Keep up-to-date with daily MVP news by following the @pcaMVP on Twitter.