Fletcher is Championship Player of the Year

Luke Fletcher’s sensational season with the ball has culminated with him picking up the LV= Insurance County Championship Player of the Year award in the 2021 cinch PCA Awards.

The Nottinghamshire man has bowled brilliantly in First-Class cricket throughout his side’s campaign to finish with 345 PCA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Rankings points in the LV= Insurance County Championship – 14 clear of second placed Darren Stevens.

The seamer scored comfortably the most bowling points in the County Championship MVP with 308, which was 44 clear of Middlesex’s Tim Murtagh.

Fletcher also topped the charts in terms of wickets taken with 66 at an average of 14.9. Only one player with more than 30 wickets, Essex’s Sam Cook, took them at a better average this season.

The 33-year-old also bowled with a miserly economy rate of 2.33, taking a competition-high four five-wicket hauls and returning ten wickets in a match on one occasion against Worcestershire at the end of May.

Fletcher was named the MVP of the Match – the award given to the player who scores the most MVP points in any given fixture – five times in his 13 LV= Insurance County Championship appearances this year, and his biggest MVP points haul in a single fixture was the 52.2 he scored in the aforementioned game against Worcestershire.

Individual excellence translated to team success for Nottinghamshire as Fletcher’s wickets guided the Trent Bridge side to Division One and kept them in the title race right up until the final fixture of the LV= Insurance County Championship season.

Fletcher’s fellow professionals have already recognised his achievements this season in voting him as one of the four shortlisted candidates for the cinch PCA Men’s Player of the Year award, due to be awarded on Tuesday, alongside Durham’s David Bedingham, Essex’s Simon Harmer and England Test skipper Joe Root.

LV= Insurance County Championship Player of the Year, Luke Fletcher, said: “I am really proud of what I have achieved this year. Having never taken 50 wickets in an LV= Insurance County Championship Season before, it was brilliant to tick that achievement off the list, and to then go beyond that was great.

“To be recognised for the efforts you put in is really nice, and it’s a pleasure to earn the LV= Insurance County Championship Player of the Year award ahead of some tremendous players who have had very good seasons.

“At the start of the season, you never expect anything like these personal awards. You just try and do what you can to improve, and do what you can for the team to get over the line. To get this recognition at the end of it all is really nice, and to contribute to a great season as a team is great.”

The LV= Insurance County Championship Player of the Year has been selected by the PCA MVP Rankings, Fletcher finishing top of the table which was produced by a new statistical algorithm for 2021.

Instead of relying on traditional batting and bowling averages, the formula rewards outstanding individual contributions in First-Class cricket, including taking top-order wickets and bowling with a good economy.

Fletcher receives a £2,500 cash prize for topping the MVP, with competition prize money equal across men’s and women’s domestic cricket this season. He succeeds Simon Harmer as the best player in men’s domestic red-ball cricket after the Essex man was statistically the best player in the Bob Willis Trophy last year.

Fletcher joins Scott Borthwick (Royal London Cup Player of the Year) and Samit Patel (Vitality Blast Player of the Year) in having picked up a men’s domestic cinch PCA Award this season.

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 Fletcher shortlisted alongside Durham’s David Bedingham, Simon Harmer of Essex and England Test skipper Joe Root.

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.