The 2019 Overall MVP Simon Harmer captains this season’s Greene King Team of the Year, which has been selected using the PCA’s purpose-built Most Valuable Player Rankings.
The team of star performers contains three of the nominees for the NatWest PCA Players’ Player of the Year, in the form of Harmer, Dom Sibley and Ryan Higgins. One of the trio could be in line to receive the headline prize at tomorrow’s 50th NatWest PCA Awards ceremony.
Eight counties are represented, with six players coming from Division One of the Specsavers County Championship and five from Division Two. Six of the team helped their side to either gain promotion or win a trophy this year.
Selected ahead of the last round of County Championship fixtures via the MVP formula, the balanced team consists of the best performing individuals on the county circuit across all formats. Batting, bowling and fielding points were taken into consideration as well as MVP points-per-game to create the ultimate domestic team of 2019.
Dom Sibley:
• 335 Overall MVP points
• Nominated for NatWest PCA Players’ Player and PCA Young Player of the Year
• Most runs in the County Championship with 1,324
• Top batsman in Championship MVP
• Received first England Test call up
Billy Godleman:
• 413 Overall MVP points
• Highest ranked specialist batsman in Overall MVP
• Most Overall batting points with 368
• Finished in top 10 of Overall, Championship, Blast MVP Rankings
• 1,982 runs across all formats
Tom Banton:
• 357 Overall MVP points
• August PCA Player of the Month
• 1,003 white ball runs including maiden List A and T20 hundreds
• Helped Somerset to Royal London One-Day Cup title
• Called up to England T20I squad
Wayne Madsen:
• 391 Overall MVP points
• 7th in Vitality Blast MVP
• 1,664 runs in all competitions
• Averaged 46 in the Blast
• 8 fifties in all formats
Sam Hain:
• 348 Overall MVP points
• Averaged 51.37 in the Championship
• Warwickshire’s top run-scorer in both limited overs formats
• Career best List A score of 161 not out
• 1,666 runs in all formats
Ryan Higgins:
• 484 Overall MVP points
• Fifth in Overall MVP
• Nominated for NatWest PCA Players’ Player of the Year
• 958 runs and 50 wickets in Championship
• Helped Gloucestershire to promotion
Dane Vilas (Wicket-keeper):
• 406 Overall MVP points
• Highest ranked keeper
• 90 fielding MVP points
• Highest score of the season with 266
• Captained Division Two-winning Lancashire
Lewis Gregory:
• 464 Overall MVP points
• 17.86 points-per-game (ranked 2nd)
• 51 Championship wickets at 15.76
• Four five-wicket hauls
• Helped Somerset win Royal London One-Day Cup
Simon Harmer (Captain):
• 2019 Overall MVP winner with 609 points
• 2019 Championship MVP winner
• MVP in semi-final and final of Vitality Blast
• Nominated for NatWest PCA Players’ Player of the Year
• 100 wickets to lead Essex to Championship and Blast double
Kyle Abbott:
• 542 Overall MVP points
• Second in Overall MVP
• 71 Championship wickets at 15.73
• Best first-class match figures of 17-86 since 1956
• Six five-wicket hauls
Ben Sanderson:
• 363 Overall MVP points
• 85 wickets in all formats
• Most bowling points in Div 2
• Bowling average under 20 in Championship and Blast
• Helped Northants to promotion
The MVP formula was designed by the PCA in conjunction with the players to identify the key influencers and top performers in any given game.
On top of points for runs and wickets, bonus points are awarded, for example, for scoring runs quickly, claiming top order wickets and taking catches in the field, amongst other important disciplines.
The algorithm therefore provides a more rigorous analysis of player performance than traditional batting or bowling averages do. The Overall MVP at the end of every season is rewarded with a £10,000 cash prize.
