M V P !!!

Just a bit of fun, but Play Cricket has a section where they maintain a 'Most Valuable Player' rating per club each season. This is updated weekly and is based on batting, bowling and fielding performances.

Now I have to say it seems to favour bowlers quite significantly (batters scoring a century will get a base of 3 points with a couple more available depending on the total team score and number of boundaries. A bowler taking 5 wickets is guaranteed at least 7 points with more available based on maidens and economy). Fielding and team performances also contribute. Oh, and the captain gets an extra point for a win for some reason - what's that all about Gully?

I glance at it occasionally but don't share it as we don't need a leader board to tell us who's playing well. But... as we've now finished the season, I thought we could just take a look at the final top 5 tally and see who stood out in this extremely successful season. Let's go!

1. Zullie (193) - two years running MVP.

143 bowling points & 21 batting points.

What can you say? Leading wicket taker, then finished the year having fun hitting the ball out of the ground. Annoyingly laid back about his talent too...

Genuinely nice guy

2. Aftab (161)

91 bowling points & 41 batting points.

Given that he disappeared for quarter of the season, Zullie could have been in trouble. Maybe next year?

Genuinely nice guy

3. Shanny (104)

59 batting points & 21 bowling points

Top batter, absolutely dominated most of the season. Not called on for bowling much this year but chipped in.

Broke the mould by being predominantly a batter in this list and deserves a better scoring system for batting

Genuinely nice guy

4. Arfan (94)

43 bowling points & 17 batting points

Always calm and collected, classy bowler and elegant batter. Really pleasant to talk with. Smokes like a chimney!

Genuinely nice guy

5. Coach (89)

61 bowling points & 2 batting points

The anchor of the team. The cool head in a crisis. Been there and done it all, so nothing fazes him.

And he can explain all aspects of the game to you in a clear and verbose manner to help you get teh most out of cricket.

Genuinely nice guy

So, there we have it. The top 5 from a total of 20 players used this season (though 7 of those only played 11 games between them - we had a very settled side this year).

Who will make the top 5 next year? Bet it's a bowler...