Durham opening batsman Keaton Jennings has climbed into the top four of the Professional Cricketers’ Association Most Valuable Player Rankings.
Jennings made his fifth Specsavers County Championship century of the season in this week’s rain-affected draw against Hampshire in which he scored 30 per cent of Durham’s first innings 421.
That gave Jennings 27 PCA MVP points towards a match haul of 36 points which has taken him to fourth place in the overall rankings, 33 behind leader Joe Leach, the Worcestershire all-rounder.
Jennings is a place higher in the Specsavers County Championship PCA MVP Rankings on 197 points, 50 behind Warwickshire’s Keith Barker, the leader in four day cricket. Durham batsman/leg-spinner Scott Borthwick is 13th in the overall PCA MVP table and sixth in the County Championship rankings 23 points behind Jennings.
The PCA MVP was introduced in 2007 and is designed by the players to find the cricketers who really win matches by combining all aspects of a player’s performance to give a ranking in relation to his peers.
The revised MVP formula 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 taken at the start of the innings are judged more valuable than those that fall later, and bowlers who bowl their overs cheaply (in the context of the match) are given due reward for doing so.
The weightings in the revised formula have been scaled so as to provide continuity with previous seasons, ensuring that the value of an MVP point this year is equivalent to those allocated under previous formulae. The PCA MVP leader board can be viewed here.