Photo Credit: Professional Cricketers’ Association
Leicestershire all-rounder dominates Royal London Cup to claim MVP.
Leicestershire Foxes all-rounder Wiaan Mulder has been awarded the Royal London Cup Player of the Year following the conclusion of the domestic 50-over competition.
Consistency was the key for Mulder who had a competition to remember for the Foxes, scoring 533 runs and taking 14 valuable wickets to make him statistically the number one player in the competition.
The Royal London Cup Player of the Year was selected by the PCA Most Valuable Player Rankings. The formula enables players to score or lose MVP points on every ball based on their expected performance for that ball in comparison to CricViz’s extensive historical database of 50-over cricket.
The South African starred throughout his nine 50-over fixtures as he helped the Foxes into the knockout stages, finishing with 177 MVP points. His 533 runs included passing 50 on five occasions and ended with a strike-rate of over 100.
His standout performance of the competition came in the second fixture where he achieved a huge 38.54 MVP points. Batting at number five, the 24-year-old hit an unbeaten 116 off 100 balls which included 14 fours and three maximums. He then backed up his efforts with the ball, taking four wickets for just 47 runs from his 10 overs. Removing both openers and conceding just 4.7 runs an over in a match where the economy exceeded seven proved to be invaluable as the Foxes won by 15 runs.
Also impressing with knocks of 81 off 71 balls against Kent and 71 not out off 65 deliveries against Surrey, he was shortlisted for the PCA’s August Player of the Month due to his fine form that saw him recalled to play in the final Test match of the summer for South Africa against England.
He claims the Royal London Cup Player of the Year trophy, as well as £2,500 MVP prize money and Mulder said:
“It is super special for me to put in some match-winning performances in the Royal London Cup and the award shows me all the hard work I’ve put in over the years has paid off.”
WIAAN MULDER
“It is really special to win the Royal London Cup Player of the Year after the season we had at Leicestershire,” said Mulder. “We were unlucky to be knocked out in the T20s so it is super special for me to put in some match-winning performances in the Royal London Cup and the award shows me all the hard work I’ve put in over the years has paid off a little bit, I was very chuffed to even be in the running.
“The 50-over format is a favourite of mine, I am a massive fan of white-ball cricket and I think 50-over cricket tests your all-round skill. When you get in early and have to face the new ball you need good technique and shot selection and then near the end of the game it balances out where you need power and boundaries.
“I thought the standard of the Royal London Cup was really good, I thought the competition was well run and there is lots of opportunity for young guys to put their hands up to try and get into the four-day side or even for next year’s T20 as lots of the guys were playing in The Hundred. It will be interesting to see how it goes in the next couple of years.”
Mulder’s closest rivals were the highest point scorers in the batting and bowling departments. Stevie Eskinazi was in second place on the MVP ladder, 49 points behind on 128. However, just looking at batting points alone the Middlesex opener was the best performing player in the competition with 108 points, 11 ahead of Cheteshwar Pujara.
Brett Hutton ended in third position overall and number one on bowling points alone with the Notts Outlaws seamer securing 103 bowling points, 18 ahead of Sussex’s Ari Karvelas.
Despite Mulder’s dominance, it was Kent Spitfires who won the Royal London Cup during a fantastic final at Trent Bridge with all-rounder Joey Evison winning the Match MVP thanks to a well-constructed 97, which turned out to be the highest score of the match, and two wickets, including the key dismissal of Dane Vilas.
View the final Royal London Cup MVP table here.
