MATT COLES AND KEITH BARKER BURST INTO TOP TEN

MATT COLES AND KEITH BARKER BURST INTO TOP TEN Bowling all-rounders often hold sway in the MVP Rankings at this time of year so it’s perhaps no surprise that Kent’s Matt Coles and Warwickshire’s Keith Barker have hauled themselves into the top ten through strong performances with both bat and ball. Barker has always enjoyed playing Durham – he scored his maiden first-class century against them in 2011 and returned career best match figures of 10-70 the following season – but this week he put it all together scoring 102 off 124 balls and taking 4-54 and 5-103 to almost singlehandedly win the game against them at Edgbaston. The powerful leftie has scored 225 runs and taken 18 wickets in this LV=CC campaign having already returned figures of 3-43 and 3-42 in Warwickshire’s win over Worcestershire in their previous match. Barker, who has finished in the top 20 of the LV=CC MVP in the last three seasons with a best of third in Warwickshire’s Championship-winning year of 2012, is up to eighth overall. Coles appears to be enjoying his second stint at his home county of Kent and this week a combination of 66 off 83 balls, 3-49 and 2-77 earned them a first victory in the LV=CC over Gloucestershire. Coles has 160 runs and 25 wickets having taken three or more wickets on six occasions. As someone who contributes consistently across all formats – as evidenced by finishes of 44th (Hampshire), 54th and 30th in the last three overall Rankings’ tables – Coles should benefit from the arrival of the Natwest T20 Blast as he seeks to reignite a career which had seen picked for the Lions a couple of winters ago. He is currently up to sixth. Away from the all-rounders, Alex Hales with bat in third and Kyle Jarvis with ball in seventh continue to impress. Hales, whose strong performances this season allied to his T20 pedigree have seen him called up to IPL franchise the Mumbai Indians, has scored 618 runs across both formats. His LV=CC form has realised 532 runs including scores of 236, 141 and 94 and he took that form into the opening round of the T20 Blast smashing an unbeaten 86 off 43 balls, an innings which included five fours and eight sixes, six of them struck consecutively. Hales earned bonus points for the heady strike rate of 200 runs per 100 balls and for the percentage of team total (60.56%). Jarvis, meanwhile, was quietly bowling Lancashire to another victory in the second division of the LV=CC taking his tally for the season to 30 wickets. He took 5-69 and 2-10 against Leicestershire having already taken 5-13 in an opening round victory over Derbyshire and eight wickets in the win over Kent. He is fourth in the LV=CC MVP and seventh overall. Like Coles, Jarvis loses 20% of his LV=CC points because he plays in division two. No such problems for Chris Rushworth and James Harris whose tallies of 31 and 33 wickets see them continue to set the pace in this year’s MVP race. OVERALL MVP PLAYER COUNTY BAT BOWL FIELD CAPT WINS PLAYED POINTS AV PTS Rushworth Durham 15.07 146.55 3 0 4 6 169 28.12 Harris Middx 16.07 142.41 3 0 3 6 164 27.41 Hales Notts 133.86 0 0 0 1 5 135 26.97 Shahzad Sussex 22.41 97.16 1 0 2 4 123 30.64 Voges Middx 85.40 22.13 7 3 3 5 121 24.11 For more information on the MVP ranking system please visit www.thepca.co.uk. For more info on this release contact Dave Fulton on 07742106991, dfulton@thepca.co.uk or Jason Ratcliffe at the PCA on 07768 558 050 or jratcliffe@thepca.co.uk The Formula The MVP is a cumulative points system that ewards players for every run scored, wicket taken and catch held – and, how well they do it. A player achieves bonus points based in certain criteria. An overview of the formula is set out below: Batting + Bowling + Fielding + Captaincy + Winning = Total MVP points Batting: The basis of the batting points take into account runs scored, the rate scored at, and the percentage of the team’s total. Batting bonus points are achieved for reaching a century, achieving a benchmark run-rate (varies per tournament, i.e. 1.5 runs per ball in the Twenty20), and scoring over 30% of a team’s runs Bowling: The basis for the bowling points take into account the number of wickets and economy rates. Bowlers achieve higher points for getting out higher order batsmen Bowling bonus points are achieved for achieving a benchmark economy rate (varies per tournament, i.e. fewer than 6 runs per over in Twenty20), taking 5 or more wickets in an innings, and bowling maidens. Fielding: Points are accumulated for catches, run outs – direct hits, run outs – assists, stumpings, with bonuses for 5 fielding dismissals in an innings. Captaincy: A captain of a winning side will receive one bonus point Winning teams: All members of a winning team receive one bonus point {{ak_sharing}}