Sangakkara goes top of PCA MVP Rankings

Sangakkara goes top of PCA MVP Rankings Surrey’s former Sri Lanka batsman Kumar Sangakkara has ended another productive week by going top of the overall Professional Cricketers’ Most Valuable Player Rankings. Sangakkara, the PCA Player of the Month for May, made a run-a-ball 121 to help Surrey beat Yorkshire in the Royal London One Day Cup quarter-final at Headingley on Tuesday and followed up with 73 in their semi-final victory over Worcestershire at New Road. Sangakkara’s century at Headingley made up 39 per cent of Surrey’s runs and earned him 26 rankings points. His match haul of 10 points against Worcestershire took Sangakkara past Kent all-rounder Darren Stevens, the long-time PCA MVP leader, and made him the first player to top 300 points this season. Sangakkara now has 304 points in all competitions, six more than Stevens, and he will have the opportunity to improve on his fifth place in the RLODC rankings when Surrey meet Nottinghamshire in the final at Lord’s on July 1. Sangakkara has 114 points in the 50 overs competition, 36 behind Glamorgan all-rounder Colin Ingram who leads the table but whose campaign ended at the group stage. Nottinghamshire all-rounder Samit Patel, currently third in the RLODC rankings, could also overtake Ingram and second-placed Alastair Cook in the final. Patel is only three points behind Cook and 18 adrift of Ingram. The PCA MVP Rankings system identifies the match-winners and key influencers of matches throughout the domestic season. The formula takes into account conditions, quality of opposition, captaincy and strike-rates as well as runs scored and wickets taken. Patel, who made 257, his highest first-class score, against Gloucestershire at Bristol followed up with 66 in the RLODC quarter-final against Somerset and followed up with 122 which led a successful run chase in the semi-final against Essex at Chelmsford. Patel has now moved to sixth in the overall PCA MVP on 231 points, nine behind Cook whose century in the semi-final was his third in the RLODC this season and earned him 27 rankings points. Patel’s performances in the past week have increased his lead at the top of both the all-time overall and RLODC PCA MVP since the rankings system was introduced in 2007. Patel has accumulated 4,983 points across all formats, 73 more than Stevens and 634 in 50 overs cricket, 27 ahead of Somerset all-rounder Peter Trego. To view the full MVP table click here.