Denly’s win saves day for the PCA
JOE DENLY’S outstanding season has saved the Professional Cricketers’ Association from huge embarrassment after they miscalculated the points on their lucrative Most Valuable Player award for more than a month.
An administrative error meant that dozens of players’ scores in the race for the £10,000 prize were published incorrectly throughout August.
Under an established scoring system employed for several years, cricketers from the second division of the County Championship like the Kent all-rounder are docked 20 per cent of the performance points earned from four-day matches.
The deduction was not applied, however, which might have meant them publicly acknowledging a new frontrunner during a normal year.
However, such is Denly’s advantage that he is unlikely to be caught by second-placed Rikki Clarke, of county champions Surrey.
In vying for an England tour place this winter, 32-year-old Denly has amassed 555.14 points, 81 ahead of the field and substantially higher than the total of last year’s winner Samit Patel.
‘We have had a bit of a problem with Opta over the past four to six weeks after the feed dropped and somehow the 20 per cent deduction for Division Two players in the County Championship was not taken into consideration,’ said a PCA spokesman.
Although the issue was resolved on Wednesday, the downgraded players may be left disgruntled — it is not uncommon for county contracts to include bonus payments for hitting certain MVP points targets.