Mike Atherton on today's Times is a supporter. Here's the highlights:
As a precursor to next season, England are scheduled to play a short ODI series in the Caribbean. This will coincide with the new initiative, made up of the best performers in this year’s Royal London Cup as measured by the Professional Cricketers’ Association’s (PCA) Most Valuable Player (MVP) index. It will be open only to English-qualified players and will include a handful automatically selected from the MVP index, and others for whom the selectors have a high regard.[/color][/size]
[/color]The aim is to provide an added incentive for those playing 50-over cricket this year, as well as giving the selectors further opportunity to watch the best non-international one-day players outside the comfort zone of their counties before the Champions Trophy. England’s woeful performance in the World Cup in New Zealand and Australia was widely blamed on the selectors who overlooked some of the most exciting and dynamic players in the domestic game.[/color][/size]
[/color]The PCA launched its MVP for the 2007 domestic season as a statistical database that allowed players to be ranked against their peers. Although it was initially sponsored for three years, it has languished since then, unloved and ignored. The hope is that the MVP will be given an added boost now, as players look to improve their rankings and so give themselves a chance of going to the UAE, using that as a springboard for international recognition.[/color][/size]
[/color]Leading England-qualified players in last year’s MVP rankings for 50-over cricket included among others Benny Howell (Gloucestershire), Liam Dawson (Hampshire) and Matt Coles (Kent). Had the selectors taken note of the MVP before the 2015 World Cup, Ben Stokes (third in 2014) and Adil Rashid (fourth) would have been certainties.[/color][/size]
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Topic: North V South (Read 1814 times)