Magic Michael tops MVP
10 September 2015
After scoring an unbeaten 137 to lead Gloucestershire to their first Lord’s final in 11 years, Michael Klinger’s phenomenal one-day form has seen him top the PCA’s (Professional Cricketers Association) MVP Rankings.
The 35-year-old – who flew back from Australia for last Sunday’s semi-final win over Yorkshire - has been calculated as the Most Valuable Player in both the Royal London One-Day Cup and the NatWest T20 Blast.
Michael has scored 531 runs at a strike rate of 93 and an average of 132.75 in this year’s RLC campaign. He has contributed over a third of his team’s runs (34.35%) in the seven games he has played.
These figures mirror his achievements in the NatWest T20 Blast where he racked up 654 runs (34% of the team’s runs) with three hundreds and four fifties. In T20 his strike rate rose to 142 at an average of 81.75.
Despite Michael’s dominance Gloucestershire have been far from a one-man team.
Benny Howell is second in the RLC MVP Rankings with 291 runs and 15 wickets - including 3-37 against Yorkshire in the semis.
James Fuller (20th), David Payne (37th) and Gareth Roderick (38th) also feature in the RLC top 50.
Their opponents in the final, Surrey, have eight players in the top 50 four players in the top 15. Steven Davies is their highest ranked player in 7th with 496 runs while England’s Jason Roy (13th) and Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakarra (14th) also feature.
Tom Curran, who held his nerve in the final over to see Surrey across the line, is 15th, his brother Sam is 31st, Zafar Ansari 36th and skipper Gareth Batty 47th.
To see the full RLC MVP list click here
