Glamorgan batsman Aneurin Donald ended a record-breaking week by taking 38 points in the Professional Cricketers’ Association Most Valuable Player Rankings from the Specsavers County Championship victory over Derbyshire at Colwyn Bay.
The former England Under-19 captain plundered a maiden double century from just 123 balls which equalled the world record for the fastest ever 200 set by Ravi Shastri, a former Glamorgan player, for Bombay against Baroda in 1985.
Donald scored his runs at a strike rate of 172 and contributed 45 per cent of Glamorgan’s first innings 518 which gave him 36 PCA MVP batting points. He struck 26 fours and 15 sixes and reached three landmarks – 100, 150 and 200 – with sixes. Donald failed to add to his haul in the second innings run chase as he followed his 234 with a duck.
Donald’s efforts at Colwyn Bay helped him move into the top 100 of the County Championship PCA MVP in 98th place on 97 points for the season.
All-rounder Graham Wagg is Glamorgan’s highest-ranked player in the overall PCA MVP Rankings. He is in 25th place on 239 points from all formats this season.
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: http://www.thepca.co.uk/county-mvp.html