Worcestershire opener Daryl Mitchell has climbed to 12th in the all-time points table in the Professional Cricketers’ Association Most Valuable Player Rankings.
Mitchell took his career points tally since the PCA MVP system was introduced in 2007, to 3,552 in making his sixth Specsavers County Championship century of the season in this week’s superb eight wicket win over Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.
PCA chairman Mitchell is Worcestershire’s highest-points earner in the history of the PCA MVP – but not in this season’s rankings.
Skipper Joe Leach is 16th in the overall PCA MVP, two places above Mitchell, and sixth in the County Championship rankings.
Leach finished with 5-69 in Nottinghamshire’s second innings despite suffering from a slight side strain, his fourth five wicket haul of another productive season to take his Championship wicket tally for 2017 to 58.
The 26-year-old earned 20 bowling points to add to the eight he collected in Nottinghamshire’s first innings to finish with a healthy match haul of 35 rankings points.
Leach has 366 PCA MVP points in all cricket this season, 260 of them in the championship.
He is only seven points adrift of fifth-placed Simon Harmer, the Essex and former South Africa off-spinner, and 26 behind Hampshire paceman Kyle Abbott, the new leader of the championship PCA MVP.
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.
Leach and Mitchell, who has amassed 354 points in all formats this season, head a strong Worcestershire contingent in the overall PCA MVP top 100.
Keeper Ben Cox is 34th, a place and a point ahead of all-rounder Ed Barnard.
Brett D’Oliveira (40th) and Joe Clarke (41st) are close behind with John Hastings, who has returned to Australia because of injury, in 82nd place.
Mitchell is 14th in the championship rankings, one place and three points ahead of Barnard who also impressed at Trent Bridge where he took seven wickets in the match and contributed an important half century in Worcestershire’s first innings.
Barnard ended the match with 31 PCA MVP points.
Paceman Josh Tongue is 32nd in the championship rankings in his first full season of county cricket with Clarke (48th) also in the top 50. Cox (70th) and D’Oliveira (88th) are well placed to finish in the top 100.
